


Eyes That Reflect the Heart

by ToWriteorNot



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 42,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28078029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToWriteorNot/pseuds/ToWriteorNot
Summary: Uchiha Emiko. Who was she really? All she really knew about herself was that her family name was Uchiha and her parents were dead. Well, that and nobody in Japan knew anything about her family name. When she suddenly finds herself in the village of Konoha, what could go wrong? Slightly AU. Warnings for violence and mild language. (KakashixOC) (NarutoxSakura) (SasukexIno)
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Sasuke & Yamanaka Ino
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Welcome Back Home?

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. This is merely my own personal twist on the story. I can only claim this story and my OCs.
> 
> -NOTICE: I have also story posted this story on FF.net. I plan on transferring that account to AO3 as soon as I finish writing it-
> 
> Author's Note: So this is my first attempt at a full-fledged Naruto fanfic. I wrote a one-shot a looooong time ago but ended up deleting it. I've had this idea in my head for a while but never got around to doing anything with it. Got caught up in some nostalgia and decided to pull this baby out. XD This is also my very first time in a long time where I have an OC as the main character. I typically don't do this, but this particular story is one of my very few exceptions. This story is actually mostly written. I just have a few kinks to work with and should be able to post this on a set schedule. *fingers crossed*
> 
> Please don't be too harsh on me… I wasn't sure if I'd ever attempt this again, so be easy on me, please? ^^;;
> 
> As mentioned in the summary, the story is set in a somewhat AU Konoha. The main differences are age-related (1), time-frame adjustments (2), a few jutsus (3), non-canon pairings (4), missing characters (5), very little character death (6), and missing/re-arranged timeline and events (7).
> 
> I won't go into too much detail, or I might spoil things. ;3 But I want to quickly cover the bases to avoid any misunderstandings.
> 
> (1) The kids (aka Naruto and friends) ages are bumped up. They are roughly 14-15 years old. I prefer them at this age, and I felt that their younger age didn't quite mesh with my plans. The differences in age among the kids have also been adjusted. ^^;; Heheheh… I also bumped Kakashi's age down by two years, so he's 24 at the start of this story.
> 
> (2) The story starts roughly a week or so after the kids have been assigned their teams and after the Wave Mission. However, it is not strictly following the main plot of Naruto. Also, I have Tsunade as Hokage. Yes, I know she doesn't become Hokage until much later, but I just love her as Hokage (and again, she fit better with my plot). And well, since this is fanfic, there will be slight deviations from the original story/plotline. Teehee?
> 
> (3) There will be a few jutsus used that are technically forbidden or way too high for lower level shinobi and kunoichi to be using. Since this is an AU *insert evil laughter* I have taken liberties to use a few jutsus as I saw fit. (Please don't hurt me!)
> 
> (4) This one shouldn't be too surprising, but I'm not overly fond of some of the canon pairings in Naruto. And this is fanfiction after all. ^^;;
> 
> (5) There will be a few characters that will not be appearing. Which sort of relates to the above point. XD Also, a few might not appear because they just don't come into the story. They may have honorable mentions! (I'll let you guys guess which characters won't make an appearance…)
> 
> (6) Character deaths! Yes, I won't go into detail, but I will mention that this story is not a tragedy. ;3
> 
> (7) This is mentioned in an A/N in a later chapter, but I wanted to address it here as well for new readers. ;) Again, because this story is somewhat of an AU, certain events in the Naruto anime/manga may or may not happen in the same timeline.

* * *

Uchiha Emiko. Age 18. Height 5'5.” Hair color brown. Eye color brown. Birthdate unknown. Birthplace unknown. Parents assumed dead/unknown.

The teenage girl frowned at her reflection. This person... Uchiha Emiko. Who was she really?

She sighed softly as she began fixing her hair, adjusting her bangs this way and that. It was all just part of the usual morning ritual. Get up, stare at the mirror, question life, then actually start getting ready for the day. Not that the day was anything to look forward to. It wasn't terrible or anything, but Emiko always wondered what it could be like…

To have a family, instead of living in the orphanage of a small Japanese village in the middle of nowhere. To live somewhere other than this village. To find _meaning_ in her otherwise dull life _._

Well, she knew could have left when she had turned eighteen that year… but where would she go? Where could she go?

It was better to just stay right here. While there wasn’t much of a future here, at least it was familiar. And well… she could be useful here, helping run the orphanage. There was nothing out there for her. She was stuck here forever.

She found herself sighing again as she finished putting up her hair in a simple ponytail. There all set. She glanced at her reflection one last time.

_“Emiko. Who am I?”_

* * *

It was getting a bit late into the day. Early evening by his judgement. Rather late, well, for training anyways. A soft hum left his lips. His three students were probably fuming right now. Not that he blamed them. He had wasted over half the day… again.

His eye crinkled mischievously. Which excuse should he use this time? Lost on the road of life? Helping a cat out of a tree? Maybe the old lady one? Not like they would buy any of those. No one did actually.

But he really should get going, he couldn’t shirk this responsibility forever. And… as much as he hated to admit, he was already getting a bit (very little bit, mind you) fond of his trio. They reminded him of his old team. And painfully so… but at the same time, there was a glimmer of hope there. Maybe this was the team that had the possibility of making it. They _did_ show a little promise unlike the previous genin that had he had failed again and again in the past.

_“Maaa… Only time will tell if they actually have what it takes.”_

He might sound like a skeptic, but that was how he kept himself from expecting too much (or rather _hoping_ too much). Right now, he just needed to take things one step at a time. These kids were nothing like the genin of his day. This was a different time and almost a different era altogether from the one he had grown up in. It was his duty as their jōnin-sensei to make sure they were prepared for whatever the future threw at them.

Part of him wished that he had paid more attention to how his own sensei had taught. Even though he had known that most jōnin would have their own genin team eventually, he hadn’t really thought about it seriously when he was younger (he had always been used to be on working on his own). Well, then he had joined the ANBU, so there really hadn’t been time to consider what teaching methods he would use on a future genin team (again, he had been soloing in the ANBU, no need to think about little genin). In a way, he was just winging it right now, but it was due time to be a little more serious with this team (the Chūnin Exams would be here before they knew it).

While it was true that they had shown potential teamwork, time would show if it would grow into anything real (which he deeply hoped beyond hope was the case…). Not to mention, he really couldn’t fail this team like all the other teams. He was the only one that could train an Uchiha on how to use their sharingan. He was the only one who actually had some sort of tie to the Uzumaki (that and he felt responsible for taking care of his sensei’s child). Then there was the Haruno… she was from a civilian family. Parents hadn’t gotten very far in the Academy. She was a smart one and had good chakra control, but would she get any farther than her parents? He wasn’t quite sure how to handle her (he refused to think about Rin), but one thing for sure, he would make sure she understood the seriousness of becoming a kunoichi. From there, she could—

“Kakashi-sensei!!! You’re late!” a rather loud voice pulled him out of his musings.

“Hmm?” He looked down at the irritated blonde with a blank expression that he knew annoyed his students greatly. “Is it really that late?”

“You said to meet you at the training grounds at 8 o’clock in the morning,” Sakura reminded him as crossly as she dared. While she was probably equally annoyed as Naruto, she was doing her best to respect their teacher (even if she despised his tardiness).

“Ah, I did, didn’t I? Wari, wari. You see, I was helping—”

“That’s a lie!” the three accused in unison.

Well, they definitely showed great teamwork when it came to voicing their thoughts about him. His eye crinkled in a smile at the thought which only served to annoy his students more than they already were.

“Shouldn’t we get started?” Sasuke asked dryly. “While there’s still light?”

“As observant as always,” Kakashi noted cheerfully, tussling the Uchiha’s hair. “But I’m afraid with this light we won’t have enough time to do much training.”

It was his fault, but it was all part of testing his team. He wasn’t being completely irresponsible contrary to popular belief! There was a ‘method to his madness’ so to speak.

His three students obviously weren’t too pleased with this answer. Choruses of “Kakashi-sensei!” and “not fair!” were thrown at him. After all, he had been doing this almost twice a week for the past month after the Wave Mission—their one and _only_ mission thus far as genin. He knew they would all catch on to it eventually (well, he had been hoping Naruto would have caught on a little sooner…). However, they had yet to see the significance.

Perhaps another week, and they’d crack it? He knew he probably shouldn’t hope for that much from them.

“Tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock.” He smiled down at irritated expressions of his students and added a quick “don’t be late” just to annoy them further before disappearing with a quick _poof_.

He couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly as he could hear the fading voices of his students.

“That Kakashi-sensei! Of all things… to tell _us_ not to be late!”

It was all amusing really, but this ‘game’ did need to end soon. The three really did need to be focusing on more serious training. He sighed softly. Another week tops, he decided. Then, _then_ he’d get more serious even if they didn’t figure things out. There wasn’t a lot of time left.

For now, he needed to take his mind off of his genin team. A walk sounded nice. He stuffed his hand in his pocket, feeling around for his _Icha Icha._ Maybe he’d also stop by the Memorial Stone on the way home.

* * *

Trips to get groceries were never fun, but as the eldest orphan, it was her duty. The adults had their hands full with other responsibilities, so Emiko was almost always chosen to take this weekly chore. It wasn’t fun (those bags were heavy!), but it got her outside for a bit and away from the stuffiness of the orphanage. So, it wasn’t all bad. Still… the trip back was always such a pain, especially with eight very _full_ bags of groceries in tow.

 _“Wonder if they ever considered having two people get groceries?”_ she wondered dryly as she looked at the long path before her.

Of course, the orphanage had to be on the other side of the village. She sighed, but sighing wasn’t going to make these bags of groceries any lighter or the trip any shorter. It was time to get a move on.

She adjusted the bags on her arms. Why did they feel heavier… Maybe she should redistribute the weight?

She set a few bags down, picking out which ones were lighter. So far, she had narrowed down the two lightest ones and placed one on each arm. Hopefully, this would help make the groceries feel a little less heavy. She had just picked up a third bag when she felt a sharp tugging feeling around her chest. Maybe eight bags really had been overdoing it… She knew should have just taken the offer from the manager to do two round trips.

And now the world was spinning. Yep, she really shouldn’t have pushed herself. She could almost feel her insides swirling and shrinking then expanding the swirling over and over again… Never, _never_ again would she attempt a one attempt grocery trip. She learned her lesson, but it didn’t seem like this feeling of spinning was going to be ending any time soon. Her eyes clenched shut in an attempt to ignore the pain. Again, no good. And weirdly enough, she felt like she was… floating? No, falling?! Whatever this was, she knew she would never ever attempt doing this with groceries ever again. For real. She swore she wouldn’t, gritting her teeth as she suddenly stumbled forward.

“Oi... you all right there?”

Emiko slowly opened her eyes. It seemed like it was all over now (whatever that was…). “H-huh?”

And the pain… was gone? Disappearing as suddenly as it had come.

“Ah, good. You don't seem to be too badly damaged.”

Emiko straightened and rubbed her head. What on earth had happened? She remembered going to the store to buy groceries for dinner then she was pulled then was flung… flung-ed (flung-ed? was that even a word?) forward. Or had that all been just her imagination?

“You all right there, young lady?”

Emiko blinked in surprise. Young lady? No one in the village had _ever_ called her that (everyone knew her as the strange Uchiha orphan). This must be a stranger. She turned to face the man.

“WAH?!” she scurried back, somewhat unbalanced by the grocery bags on her arms that she had temporarily forgotten.

The stranger raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Is my masked face that scary?”

“That's not it! You-you!” she pointed her finger at his hair. “You have spiky silver hair!!!”

The man cocked his head to the side. “Ah... is that what's bothering you?”

“Your hair... it's spiky!” She found herself pointing at his hair once again. “How much gel do you use?!”

The man cocked his head once again with a puzzled expression. “Gel?”

“Like... hair gel?” Emiko took another look at the man.

Well, maybe she should call him a young man? He seemed to be only just a few years or so older than her. Although, she couldn't be sure since a mask covered his face and his head-protector thingy covered his left eye. Something was strangely familiar about it... She subconsciously fingered the similar looking forehead protector sitting in the one of the pockets of her cargo pants.

“Um... who are you?” she asked, trying to be polite. Seriously… she had learned manners at the orphanage. She should apply them!

“Hatake Kakashi.”

She stood up and gave the man as respectful of a bow as she could with her grocery bags still hanging off her arms. “Ah... a pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm Uchiha Emiko.”

The man narrowed his lone gray eye at her. “Did you say 'Uchiha'?”

Emiko nodded, biting her lip some. “Yes.”

Kakashi seemed rather shocked as he held his chin thoughtfully. “But how?” he murmured softly, more to himself than her.

Emiko raised an eyebrow, curious to why her last name seemed to have sparked interest. Ah, but she had no time for this. She really ought to be taking the groceries back to the orphanage.

“Ah, it was nice meeting you, Hatake-san.” She bowed to him again, more gracefully this time to her relief. “I really must be getting home.”

Kakashi hummed softly. “Where do you live?”

Emiko blinked. “Ah... at the orphanage.”

“Orphanage?”

“Yes.”

He cocked his head once again. “Since when?”

Emiko pursed her lips. This man was rather forward, wasn't he?

“Since I was four.”

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise. “In this village?”

Emiko slowly nodded. Where were all these questions leading too? “Yes...”

Kakashi furrowed his brow some. “But how?”

Emiko frowned, getting irritated with the man’s strange behavior. “If you'll excuse me.”

She didn’t get very far though. It had nothing to do with the stranger this time (or her bags of groceries).

Spread out before her was the village of Konoha. Something she had never seen before and most definitely had _not_ been expecting. This was not the village she had grown up in… She must have taken a wrong turn or something and headed to the neighboring village (she had never been there after all… how far was it again?).

She tried to school her expression to hide her shock as the stranger stood beside her, holding the third grocery bag that she must have dropped when she had greeted the man. She was master of herself. She would figure out how to get back home on her own. Well… she thought she was master of herself until she spotted the most craziest thing (at least for her).

“Wah! She has pink hair!” Emiko was barely able to hold back the shriek in her voice as she pointed in the direction of a very distant Sakura (there was no mistaking the pink-haired kunoichi).

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, making a humming noise in amusement. “But Emiko-chan, you have purple hair. What's so unusual about pink hair? Lots of people have pink hair.”

“Nani?!” Emiko's hands went straight to her hair, dropping the other grocery bags on her arms in the process. “Th-that's not possible! I... I have brown hair! _Brown_ hair!”

Kakashi let out another amused hum. “It's definitely purple. Dark purple to be exact, possibly a little close to being classified as black.”

Emiko’s hands were shaking slightly as she pulled her hair out of its ponytail holder and stared at the deep dark purple strands in her hand in shock. How could this be? How did she suddenly have purple hair?!

Then a horrible thought struck her mind.

“My eyes! What about my eyes?!” Emiko whirled around to look up at Kakashi. “What color are they?!”

His eye crinkled into a mischievous smile. “What color do you think they are?”

“Just tell me they're brown, Hatake-san!” Emiko begged. “They can't be some weird color like my hair!”

“They're red.”

Emiko couldn’t hold back a scream of horror.

Kakashi let out a chuckle and patted Emiko on the head. “Jodan, jodan. They're just dark blue.”

“Dark blue?!”

That couldn’t be possible. Something wasn’t right. This was all just a dream. That was it! A dream… there was no way people could have pink hair or purple hair. Or crazy silver spiky hair! She was still dreaming. This place was something straight from a dream. In a few minutes, her alarm would go off, and this weird dream would be over.

“Oi… you still here?”

Emiko blinked.

But everything was… still the same?!

There was no alarm ringing. No voices screaming that breakfast was ready. Nothing remotely similar to the usual morning routine could be heard. She pinched herself, wincing at the pain. Evidently… this was all real and no dream.

“Where in the world am I…”

* * *

Emiko wasn’t sure how she felt about all this. It was still hard to wrap her head around the fact that she was in a whole different _world_. When it had just been her and the stranger, she could deny it, but upon seeing/reaching the central part of the village (or should it be city? It was much bigger than the village she had lived in…), she could no longer deny it (but then again, she probably should have noticed something was fishy considering she only had _three_ bags of groceries not her original eight). This was most definitely not the place she knew as home.

She had numbly let Kakashi her further into the village after he had gently explained where she was. He then seemed to be saying something to her about taking her to see someone first, but she wasn’t sure. She was still trying to take in everything. This village was so big and different than anything she had ever seen (it was called ‘Konoha’ if she heard him correctly). And… there seemed to be quite a few people wearing that forehead protector thingy. Was it some sort of fashion statement? After all, not everyone wore it around their head. Some had it on their arm while others wore it like a belt or even around their leg! She couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. She had… well, to be honest, she thought it had some sort of special meaning. It was the only item that she knew belonged to her family.

Her memories of her family had always been extremely fuzzy. But that forehead protector… or whatever it was (she had never been sure of what it was supposed to be called) had been something she distinctly remembered as belonging to her family. It was her only clear memory… and well, it seemed like it wasn’t really anything special at all.

She sighed, still absentmindedly following her guide. What else was there to call him? He was from this village and appeared to know something about what connected her to this village. After all, he had a very different reaction to her family name than she had been used to be getting. She hoped he was taking her somewhere that could possibly answer all the questions she had ever had about her family. At least, that was what she was hoping her questions could be answered.

And now, she was standing in some sort of office room where Kakashi (she remembered his name now) was talking to a blonde-haired woman sitting behind the desk (she was called Hokage). They were discussing her. At least, she thought heard them mention her name once or twice. She wasn’t really paying attention.

She knew she probably _should_ be paying attention. After all, here was a place where she could finally know things about her family. Maybe she had relatives that were still living who knew her and her parents! But she just felt so numb to it all. Like she was in a dream… and alas, it wasn’t a dream. This was all real which made it all the sadder. Here she was in front of the very thing she had wished for all her life… and what was she doing?

Nothing. She was just standing there as the two adults (because technically she wasn’t quite an adult yet…) discuss her life. Somehow, this felt all too familiar. It was kind of like this back at the orphanage. Adults trying to decide what should be done with her since she was never adopted. She had always been the odd one out. No one had wanted to adopt her since no one really knew anything about who she was or where she was from. The family name was foreign and unusual.

It wasn’t like she could really do anything. The adults were the ones in charge. Not that she was upset with them or anything. She knew they were older and wiser. She just wished… well, wished they would stop treating her like a child and just tell her things upfront.

And here was her chance. The two adults seemed to be looking at her for a response.

But all she could do was blink. After all, she hadn’t really been listening, and it wasn’t like she was really going to talk back to these two adults. In her mind, maybe, but in real life? Absolutely not!

“Umm, yes?” She glanced between both hesitantly, trying to gauge their reactions and expressions to get an idea of what she might have missed. Unfortunately, these two seemed to be excellent at schooling their expressions (though Kakashi probably had the advantage of that mask he wore).

The lady cleared her throat. “For the time being, you will be staying with Kakashi. There are still a few things I would like to discuss with you, but I don’t want to overwhelm you on your first day here.” She gave Emiko a small smile. “I hope these arrangements won’t be too much for you?”

Emiko managed to nod, not like she could really argue. At least this lady seemed nice enough. Perhaps she would have the courage to ask her more questions on another day. Like she had said, it had been a bit overwhelming. It wasn’t every day that you were thrown into a totally different world that seemed to be the world that you were actually from. At least, this was all based on the reaction to her family name. The people here seemed strangely familiar with it. Though, she could be totally wrong and jumping to conclusions here… her imagination was one that constantly ran wild.

The lady, however, seemed pleased with her response nonetheless and motioned that they could leave. She might have whispered something to Kakashi before they left, but Emiko wasn’t sure. She was still a little lost in her own thoughts.

Kakashi was silent as the two left the Hokage (whatever that was supposed to mean…). Emiko didn’t really feel like having a conversation herself, so she just let the silence take over. She didn’t blame the guy for not wanting to talk. After all, why would this Kakashi guy want to have a random teenage girl stay at his place? It would only temporary, judging from what the Hokage lady had said, but still, Emiko didn’t really think Kakashi really wanted to have a guest at his place. After all, they had barely known each other for a couple of hours. Then again… she really wouldn’t want to be staying with a complete stranger.

Still… she felt bad. Was she just a burden? Ugh, her thoughts were going haywire. Was this what traveling to a different world like? She felt like her imagination was going on overdrive, coming up with all sort of crazy scenarios of what could happen… They seriously did _not_ cover this sort of situation in any of the books she had read.

* * *

This day certainly had taken quite the unexpected turn. He wasn’t sure how things would work out, but he’d manage (after all, he was good at improvising and adjusting to whatever life threw at him). Though, he was still a bit miffed at Tsunade (it was difficult to think of her as Hokage when not strictly on duty). He knew it couldn’t be helped, but really? Having the girl stay _with_ him? Not the best idea.

Even if this girl was supposedly an Uchiha, her overall look and feel screamed _civilian_. Putting her in the same apartment as him just didn’t seem like the most brilliant idea. But who was he to argue with the almighty Hokage?

He snorted softly. Even Tsunade could make mistakes… but deep down, he knew this wasn’t a total mistake. The girl seemed genuine enough. His ANBU training made sure of that. There were no signs of any henge or genjutsu (he still had to figure out how she had just appeared out of thin air… some sort of jutsu maybe? He was doubtful on that one.). But one could never be absolutely sure, probably why Tsunade wanted Emiko to stay with him. He could keep an eye on her this way and make the girl feel somewhat at ease. If she was really as civilian as she appeared, assigning someone else to her might make her uncomfortable.

He sighed inwardly. This was going to be an interesting couple of days… He absentmindedly wondered how his genin team would adapt to this. Tsunade had hinted letting her join their training session the next day. Not to actual train of course. It was just a way to test the girl. That or Tsunade had other plans and wanted to torture him. He wouldn’t put it past the slug princess…

But now wasn’t time to get distracted by such thoughts. They were at his apartment now. Emiko seemed a little unsure about entering, but a gentle nudge from him seemed to be all the encouragement she needed.

“Maaa… it’s not much, but please make yourself comfortable.” He flicked on the lights revealing his tidy but rather empty feeling apartment. “The spare room is yours. It’s the first door on the left. Bathroom is the second door on the left.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the young lady. She seemed out of place in his apartment. After all, he rarely—correction, _never_ —had guests over. And Emiko had spaced out or just hadn’t heard him. She was obviously rather distracted. He would leave her alone to her own thoughts for the time being.

“Just call me if you need me,” he offered as he guided her to the spare room.

Emiko managed to nod, barely comprehending what he said as she entered the room. She hadn’t even noticed that he left until five minutes later. After glancing around the room and taking in her surroundings, she gingerly sat down on the bed, unsure of what to do. She didn’t have anything with her (minus those groceries… it seemed like Kakashi had somehow taken care of those). All she had were the clothes on her back. Well, that and the forehead thingy in her pocket. She wished she had the right name for it at least, even if it was just a fashion statement piece.

She sighed for what was probably the hundredth or so time today as she pulled the object out of her pocket. The fabric was quite worn and faded… but the metal piece was still as shiny as ever. She had always taken care to polish it well. It was so well polished that she could, for the first time, see what she looked like now.

Those dark blue eyes and also the very dark purple hair… she felt like she was looking at someone she didn’t know. Not that she had ever felt like she knew herself before. The change of her appearance just really seemed to be showing how little she really knew about her own self.

She frowned at her reflection. _“Who am I really?”_

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there, staring at her reflection when she was brought out of her thoughts by a soft knock on the door.

“Emiko-chan?”

“You can come in,” she answered quietly.

Kakashi poked his head in. “I have dinner ready if you’re hungry.”

“Oh… um thank you.” She hadn’t realized how late it had gotten (or how hungry she actually was).

“Hatake-san…” She hesitated a moment. This might not be the best time, but she wanted to know. “Please, wait a moment… I want to ask you something. I mean, if you don’t mind.”

Kakashi looked back at her, eyebrow raised.

“Umm… do you know what this is called?” She held up the forehead protector thingy towards him. “I know you have one, and other people around here have it.”

“You have a Hidden Leaf hitai-ate?” Kakashi sounded a bit surprised.

“Um… yeah. That’s what it’s called?” She looked down at the hitai-ate in her hand. It felt oddly satisfying to finally know what it was called.

Kakashi just nodded in affirmation. Though, he was a little concerned. How did she have that hitai-ate? She wasn’t a genin (or a chūnin). He would know, and so would Tsunade. Pretty much the whole village would know. She called herself an Uchiha after all… he would have to keep a close eye on her. Maybe she wasn’t as civilian as he had initially thought.

Emiko rubbed the metal piece, tracing the strange but familiar etched design. “It belonged to my family. At least, that’s all I can really remember,” she admitted before placing the hitai-ate carefully back into her pocket. “Those memories have always been fuzzy…”

She gave him the best bright smile that she could muster with all the strange emotions stirring deep within her soul. Pushing back tears that threatened to pool out of her eyes, she softly said with strong feeling, “Thank you.”

Kakashi blinked, a bit caught off guard by the heartfelt gratitude from his guest. “Maaa… I didn’t do anything.”

She shook her head with a smaller smile. “How about that dinner then?”

* * *

Dinner had been a quiet affair. Neither were much of a talker (okay, that was a partial lie… Emiko could be quite the talker when she wanted to be which she was _not_ feeling at this moment). Though, she would admit she was very curious how he ate while still wearing a mask. She didn’t dare ask, afraid of being too forward. Instead, she just focused on her own plate and quietly excused herself when she had finished.

Kakashi couldn’t deny that he was relieved when she headed back to the guest room. The air had been a little tense during dinner (Emiko apparently hadn’t noticed…). His brows furrowed as he started clearing the table.

 _“How could she not notice?”_ he wondered.

Her chakra signature… it had been crackling and popping like it was about to explode all throughout dinner. It was a good thing it wasn’t a serious chakra flare up (it certainly _felt_ like it though), or there would be a bunch of ANBU at his place. And Emiko? She seemed completely oblivious to it. Either that or she was really good at acting.

Not that he fully trusted her or anything, but he didn’t think it was all a front. The way she spoke of her family and that hitai-ate…

He shook his head, forcing himself to focus on washing the dishes. This was no time to get sentimental. Even if there was something about her that felt _familiar—calming—real…_ He couldn’t let his guard down. Until it could be clearly confirmed, he could not take any chances. She was under his surveillance until she could prove that she was not a threat to Konoha and was truly who she claimed to be.


	2. Not So Secret

She hadn't meant to. Of all things… that was something she would _never_ have tried to do, not here of all places!

It was a pure _accident_. She had just sat down for breakfast, and Kakashi had asked if she had slept well. And then, she had done it…

No one had ever known that she could do this. They always chalked it up to her being perceptive and caring towards her fellow orphans. But no… it wasn't that (though, she was perceptive and caring, really!). There was actually a lot more to it. She could see it. She couldn't explain it really. After all, she didn't really understand it all herself.

But… somehow, she just could _see_ it. Maybe it had to do with that one phrase: 'the eyes are the windows to the soul.' Looking into someone's eyes, she could see the reason behind their sorrow, their pain, their loneliness, their joy, their passion… she could see it all just by looking into their eyes. And she just _understood_.

She had always hated how sad some the orphans would look when they arrived at the orphanage. She wanted to help them. Let them know that someone actually cared.

It had startled her the first time it had happened. She had been trying to talk to a young boy that had been ignoring everyone since he had first arrived. She had finally been able to meet his eye when it just happened. She saw his struggles and worries. How he was afraid no one would like him. How he actually hated hugs. How he wasn't good at talking due to a lisp. She had seen it all… and understood.

While that was all good in and of itself (she was happy to be able to help others), there was a side-effect. She literally felt their pain. She had been sent to the hospital once because of it… she had passed out from pain after discovering that one of the orphans had been abused before arriving at the orphanage. However, when she had gotten to the hospital, she had no signs of being in pain despite having felt it very strongly. She didn't like that side-effect… but it had been worth it all to know that she had been able to help someone overcome their worries and fears and move forward.

But that was beside the point! This was something she had always done with children (or people closer to her age…). She had never ever tried to do this with an adult. Why on earth would she do that? Adults didn't need her help. They had life all sorted out… Or so she had thought until she had looked into Kakashi's eye.

And how she wished she hadn't! It took all of her not to double over in her pain. There was no way she would be able to explain why she was suddenly in pain nor did she want to even attempt it…

Kakashi was giving her an odd look. She didn't like that look at all. It was almost as if he knew something about what she had just did (but _how_?!).

While she hadn't known him very long (a little over half a day now?), she felt like he was an all right sort of person. She hated the thought of him thinking badly of her (well, to be honest, she had always hated the thought of _anyone_ thinking badly of her). And now, knowing about his past from all of his memories… she really really would rather him not know a thing about what had just happened. What would he think of her?

No, she would force herself to stay sitting straight up and to eat breakfast as normally and calmly as possible. She would power through the pain and pretend like everything was okay… and maybe Kakashi would forget anything happened (that is if he did know anything).

* * *

After breakfast, they had headed away from the main part of the village. Kakashi was explaining how he was a sort of ninja teacher and was going to meet up with his students to do some light training of some sort at the training fields. She didn't quite understand some of the words he was using (thought there was something oddly _familiar_ about some of them). She just nodded, hoping he didn't notice how puzzled she was about some of the things he said. It was hard to read his expression with that mask, and she didn't _dare_ meet his eye again. She didn't want to somehow accidentally trigger that again. Especially since she didn't know how she did it. If only she did know! Then she could at least control it. If it was even controllable… she felt extremely gloomy at the thought.

"Maaa… they are all right in their own way." Kakashi glanced over at Emiko. She didn't seem to be really paying attention to him drone on (which was actually a bit of a relief). There was also a rather big gray cloud of gloom and doom around her. She was apparently feeling depressed… and well, he really didn't feel like talking anymore. He was no therapist! But Tsunade had made it clear that she felt that the girl needed to be informed to some extent to test things and not overwhelm her if she was who she said she was… so he had done his best.

_"What a pain…"_

Not that Emiko was a pain. She seemed all right. It was more of having to be the one to do all the explaining. He was shinobi for goodness sake!

But, since she wasn't paying attention, he could get a better look at her. He hated to admit it, but he was getting rather curious about her as time passed. How she suddenly appeared here despite knowing practically nothing about things like jutsu and shinobis. How she was also nothing like any Uchiha he had ever known (though, he was trying to determine where she fell on a Uchiha scale of Sasuke to Obito). And then… he glanced over at her from the corner of his eye. Yes, there was that. Her eyes. They were currently a little brighter looking now that they were in the sunlight. It was a rather nice spring day in Konoha, not that Kakashi had given it much thought, there was more important things to think about at the moment.

But they hadn't been like that earlier (the eyes not the weather!). And, he wasn't speaking of the brightness or the hue. No, the eyes themselves had changed. She had activated her sharingan.

A girl who seemed to know absolutely nothing about the shinobi world… had activated her sharingan. Was she an undiscovered genius? How had she done that? And more importantly… why? There hadn't been a need to do such a thing. She didn't seem nervous or scared around him (not that he would have blamed her if she had, but since she didn't seem to know or understand about all the shinobi stuff, she had no reason to be scared). It was just so unexpected. From all that he knew about sharingans… nothing that had happened at breakfast should have triggered it.

Not to mention her sharingan was different from any he had ever known. It wasn't even the right color! Instead of being a crimson red, it was more of a… rosy pink color? Her double tomoes were also flipped in the opposite direction compared to his one sharingan and even Sasuke's sharingan. He would have to report this to Tsunade later (that and the hitai-ate she had).

"Eh?! Kakashi-sensei is actually on time?"

"Yo," Kakashi patted the blonde student's head. "I'm glad you guys aren't late."

Sakura opened her mouth to respond with a sharp remark about how the three of them were practically never tardy, but she snapped her mouth shut when she noticed the young lady beside Kakashi. Who in the world was she? Sakura had never seen her before, and judging from the look of Sasuke, he hadn't either. There was no asking Naruto. He probably had never seen her either, but then again, he probably wouldn't have noticed even if he had seen her before (the kid wasn't the brightest…).

"Is this your girlfriend?" Naruto asked curiously, looking up at the dark purple-haired lady.

She seemed surprised at the sudden proximity of the blonde student but hid it well as she gave him a small smile and slight wave of hello.

Kakashi cleared his throat (blatantly ignoring Naruto's question) and placed a hand on Emiko's shoulder and nudged her toward his students. "Sasuke," he nodded at his dark-haired student, "Naruto," a nod to the blonde, "Sakura," a nod to the only other girl. "This is Emiko-chan. She'll be with us for a little bit."

All three opened their mouths to ask a flurry of questions, but Kakashi quickly cut them before they could even make an attempt.

"Sasuke, Naruto, with me. Sakura, practice your taijutsu in front of Emiko-chan. Ask her if your stances are right."

There was no time for anyone to protest, for Kakashi had quickly shunshined over to the other side of the training field after he gave his instructions.

Sakura sighed as she watched Naruto and Sasuke run after their sensei, but then she was secretly pleased. She was very curious about Emiko-san. And here she thought Kakashi-sensei had zero interests romantically (the _Icha Icha_ series did _not_ count as a romantic interest!). This was a chance to learn a little more about her sensei, and she wasn't about to miss out on that!

She was so focused on discovering more from Emiko that she didn't notice the Kakashi clone observing them (though, she probably wouldn't have noticed even if she wasn't distracted… she was still a genin after all).

* * *

Tsunade had never liked paperwork. She had always done whatever she could to avoid it… but as Hokage, she really couldn't avoid it like she used to (she seriously regretted accepting the position sometimes). But at times like these, she could put aside her hatred for stacks and stacks of paper and concentrate on the task at hand. There were questions that needed to be answered.

Her desk was a mess of papers and scrolls scattered in untidy stacks and piles. She frowned, tossing yet another scroll aside (the pile of discarded papers and scrolls was growing at an alarming pace). Normally, this was the sort of task she would shove onto Shizune…

She leaned back in her chair with a frown, absentmindedly flipping through another stack of papers. Nothing seemed remotely close to what she was looking for, but then again, she didn't quite know what she was looking for.

Uchiha Clan records? Forbidden jutsus? Forbidden seals?

No, she couldn't seem to find anything that could answer _that_ question, and she had raided almost every scroll and document file that she could get her hands on in the Hokage Tower (however, she _did_ find something interesting in regards to the clan records…).

She drummed her fingers on the edge of her desk. The answer wouldn't just come to her for the asking… it took work—a lot of work. Perhaps it was time to check in other places. She'd leave the paperwork on her desk and mess on the floor for Shizune to handle.

She was going to get some answers! Well… at least try to figure out something before the Hatake-brat came to report the latest. She was determined to find something— _anything—_ before the jōnin did. She was Hokage for Kami's sake!

* * *

The Kakashi clone was rather amused with his assignment. He was gaining some interesting information that he would send to the real Kakashi later. Though, in the back of his mind (the _real_ Kakashi not the clone), he felt a little uncomfortable spying on two girls, but a mission was a mission. And a mission from directly from the Hokage was not one to be ignored no matter how uncomfortable or awkward it could be.

"Ah, I think if you stood more like this with your arms like this," Emiko explained, demonstrating it herself. "Move forward with your palm out then hold."

Sakura nodded, brows furrowed in concentration as she followed the older girl's instructions. Her green eyes brightened as she could feel the difference. Kakashi-sensei certainly knew a good taijutsu teacher that wasn't Gai-sensei (no offense to the jōnin-sensei! She just appreciated having a female teacher for once).

The clone narrowed his eye as he continued to watch the two train. Emiko-san seemed to be familiar with taijutsu… but then not? Her advice wasn't wrong, but it was lacking something. The clone couldn't quite put his finger on it, but whatever it was, at least it seemed to helping Sakura improve.

"I think a break is in order. You've been working hard, Sakura-chan."

The pink-haired kunoichi was beaming at the praise. "Thank you, Emiko-san!"

The clone was about to report back to the real Kakashi but then decided to stay. While resting, the two girls might get started with a little light chatter that could turn into something more which might allow the clone to learn more about Emiko. After all, there were always some things about oneself that a female would only be comfortable sharing with another female.

The two sat down on the grass, facing the direction where the boys were sparring under Kakashi's supervision.

"So… Emiko-san."

"Hmmm?" the older girl glanced over at the genin.

"How long have you known Kakashi-sensei?" she asked curiously.

Emiko pursed her lips thoughtfully. How truthful should she be?

"Not very long, I'm afraid."

Best to be as vague as possible for the time being.

"Oh," Sakura tried her best to hide her disappointment.

Emiko gave her an apologetic smile. Kakashi certainly wasn't an open book… Poor girl was probably dying to know about her mysterious sensei, but unfortunately, Emiko knew very little or she wouldn't mind helping Sakura out.

"His apartment is nice though."

The pink-haired girl looked at her with owlish eyes. "You've… you've been to his apartment?!"

Emiko blinked and nodded slowly. "Yes? I'm staying with him until things can be arranged."

"What's it like?" Sakura demanded. While Emiko might not have known Kakashi for long, she at least had gotten to see something that no other person—or very few—had seen before.

"Well…" The older girl avoided Sakura's eyes. She was unsure how far she ought to go with this… After all, would _she_ want Kakashi to delve personal things about herself? She turned her attention momentarily to the two boys sparring under Kakashi's supervision.

Naruto and Sasuke if she remembered correctly. They seemed to be quite focused on their fighting. Almost as if they were really fighting to the death…

There was something about the two boys that made Emiko's heart tighten as she watched them spar. And before she knew it… she had done it again. Her eyes had very briefly caught Sasuke's eyes as he glanced over at her. It was had been barely half a second. But that was more than enough time to see it.

And before she could even try to control herself, she had somehow met Naruto's eyes as well.

And… somehow, they both seemed to also know what she had just done. Just like Kakashi at breakfast. Their eyes were wide in surprise (or was it shock?) as they just stared at her, jaws dropped.

She wanted to open her mouth and apologize. But she couldn't. Her teeth were tightly clenched. The pain was starting… memories from Sasuke and Naruto were flashing before her eyes at a great speed. She could barely focus on those visions for she so desperately wanted to make it all stop, apologize, and never look into anyone's eyes directly ever again.

The two boys were now coming towards her… so was Kakashi.

She wanted to tell them to go away, not to come near her. But again, she couldn't. The pain was getting stronger. It was like a double whammy… or a triple considering she had somehow managed to trigger Kakashi's memories from before again (just her luck).

This was like nothing she had ever felt before. There was so much pain and sorrow… yet somehow there was a little hope and joy that she tried to cling to, but it was just out of her reach. There was just so much pain.

A scream like she had never screamed before suddenly left her lips as she crouched down, her hands reaching to cover her head in a poor attempt to stop the pain and visions. She clenched her eyes shut, unable to stop the visions or her own screams as tears streamed down her cheeks.

The others stopped where they were, unsure of what to do. While they all had heard screams before, this scream was different. It wasn't one of fear… or torture… or even pain. No, there was pain in the scream, but then not. It was hard to explain. The scream obviously a _result_ of pain, but the scream in and of itself was one of sorrow, deep sorrow.

Kakashi had heard this sort of scream before, but he was sure his students hadn't (well, at least he was pretty sure Sakura hadn't… it was somewhat possible for Sasuke and Naruto). They seemed rather numb and unsure of what to do or how to help Emiko. Even he was unsure… and his heart was clenching in a way it never had in a long time.

And then, she just passed out. Which honestly made things a little easier.

Silently and swiftly, Kakashi picked Emiko up and held her bridal style. He quickly checked her for any signs of injuries but could find none (that was odd, he could have sworn…). However, his actions seemed to have pulled his students out of their stupor. All three were soon standing and crowding around him asking questions and shooting concerned looks at Emiko and each other.

"What sort of sharingan was that?" Sasuke demanded, staring at the lady in his sensei's arms. "How does she have a sharingan?"

"Yeah! And her sharingan's nothing like Sasuke-teme's! Is she an Uchiha, or is she like you?"

"What happened? Is she okay?" (Of course, Sakura would be the most considerate in this situation.)

But Kakashi didn't answer any of their questions. He merely informed them that training would be cancelled for the rest of the day and that they could train by themselves if they wished but they shouldn't overdo it. And then, he had run off in the directions of the hospital, leaving the three alone with more questions than answers.

"Oi oi… why does Kakashi-sensei always do that?" Naruto complained, flopping down onto the grass.

Sakura sighed and shrugged. "He must have had his reasons. It might be more serious than we think." She tried not to shudder at the scream that was still echoing in her ears.

Sasuke made no comment. He just frowned in his usual serious manner.

"Hey, Sasuke. You sure you don't know anything about her sharingan?" Naruto turned to the Uchiha who only frowned even more (if that was even possible…).

"I have never seen or heard of anyone doing that before," Sasuke admitted grudgingly.

Naruto also frowned a moment before brightening up immediately. "I got an idea!"

"Oh no…" Sakura groaned. "You'll only end up getting us all into some sort of trouble again."

"Aw come on. Give me a break, Sakura! This is a really good one, ya know!"

"That's what you said last time!" she accused. "We're not kids. Not to mention we're not in the Academy anymore. We don't need to be getting into any more trouble now that we're genin!"

"This one is for real though!" Naruto insisted. "We all want to know more about Emiko-san, don't we?"

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. She would only agree if Sasuke agreed. Though… she couldn't deny that she was probably just as curious as Naruto was.

"What's the plan?"

Well… looks like she had no choice but to follow whatever crazy plan Naruto had cooked up. She just hoped that they wouldn't get into _too_ much trouble this time. Seriously, Naruto got them into too many scrapes, and they hadn't even gone on a real mission together yet!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: A slightly short chapter here, but don't worry, the future chapters are much longer! 
> 
> So, we have the debut of Emiko's sharingan! :D I know the sharingan in the anime/manga is different and don't have these capabilities, but with the whole description of sharingan being "eyes that reflect the heart" really inspired this concept as well as the title of this story. I hope you all like the concept as well as this story delves deeper. :)


	3. Running Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, as mentioned in the summary and in my first chapter's AN notes this is a slight AU, so please be aware that certain events may/may not happen according to the anime. They may occur earlier or not at all. Also, I actually have Sasuke as a year older than Naruto and Sakura. It's not really important right now, but in the future, you'll understand why this needed to be mentioned. ;)

The last place she expected to be in was the hospital. But then again… she realized that she should have been expecting it. After all, these people didn't know about the 'episodes' that had happened back at the orphanage.

She sighed as she sat up. They were probably trying to figure out what had happened. Kakashi was probably trying to explain how she had screamed and seemed to be in great pain. She rubbed her tear-stained face. Heh… those poor doctors and nurses were probably at their wits end wondering what in the world had happened to her. They wouldn't find anything. No one had ever understood what happened, so why would it be any different here?

She sighed again, glancing around the hospital room she was in. It was nice to see there was a window. Hospitals could be so dreary. A window at least would let some sunshine in and make it feel a little less gloomy.

That's when an idea sprung in her mind. It wasn't a very brilliant one, but she felt it was something she ought to do after all the trouble she caused (that and maybe her imagination was running away with her again). She set her lip in a determined line as she swung herself off the bed. It seemed as if all that pain from earlier had never been there. How strange it worked… but now was not the time to think about that.

She approached the window, fiddling around a bit until she could figure out how to open it. These weren't anything like the windows she was familiar with, so it took a little time. And after a few minutes, she finally had the window opened and was able to jump out of said window.

In hindsight… she probably should've first checked how high she might be (never assume!) before she jumped. Too late now. Her landing wasn't the best (she was no ninja). She winced as she straightened. That would definitely make her sore in a couple of hours. She'd just deal with the pain and power through like she always did. She set her lips in another determined line. She had a mission to accomplish.

* * *

"You're quite sure about that, brat?" Tsunade asked sharply.

Kakashi merely nodded in affirmation as the two walked down the hospital hall at a quick pace.

"This may complicate things…" she murmured to herself then addressed the shinobi. "But she seems fine. No clear answers on exactly why Emiko-chan passed out, but I suspect it may be related to chakra depletion from using her sharingan. Which isn't surprising since she seems to know nothing about such things. Without any proper training, she wouldn't know how to control her chakra or her sharingan. We'll have to keep a close eye on her… especially since it has been confirmed that she truly is an Uchiha."

Kakashi could hear the confusion and frustration in her voice. Not that he blamed her. He felt practically the same. How could there be another Uchiha? After that massacre… they only knew of two survivors: Itachi and Sasuke. There was no precedent for such an event.

"Maaa, we will do our best."

He expected an exasperated reply, but instead, Tsunade had stopped short, a deep frown marring her otherwise beautiful face.

"What is it?" he asked, tensing a bit and reaching out with his chakra for what could have disturbed the Hokage. His frown matched hers as he realized what was bothering her.

Tsunade didn't bother responding and instead flung open the door of the nearby hospital room.

Neither were surprised to see the bed empty or find the window wide open. They had already sensed that she was gone and had been for some time (the window was obviously the only exit she could have taken without being seen). What _did_ surprise them was the fact that she had left at all. Was there more to this Uchiha than they had originally thought? Now that was worrisome…

"Kakashi, find her. Bring her back and make sure this stays quiet. No one needs to know that she's an Uchiha just yet."

She just hoped that no one outside of her, Kakashi, Shizune, and her ANBU guards had knowledge about Emiko. There were a few things that had to be straightened out before others could learn anything about her.

* * *

So far, it seemed like no one knew Emiko-san. It seemed as if she was someone completely new to the village. However, Sakura was glad that she had been the one to think about asking around. She really doubted the two boys would be tactful (more specifically Naruto, but as much as she crushed on Sasuke, even she wasn't completely blind to his bluntness).

They certainly weren't going to find out much about Emiko-san this way. It looked like they would have to just follow Naruto's plan after all… she just hoped that 'breaking' into the hospital wouldn't get them into too much trouble. Not like that was possible. This was Naruto they were talking about.

Sakura sighed. Well, nothing to do but wait for Naruto's signal when they were in the clear. And she hated waiting… that's all she had been doing ever since she became a genin. Ino and Tenten (and even Hinata!) were busy training with their teams and _doing_ things. She even heard that Ino's team was probably going to have their first D-ranked mission soon. And what was Team 7 doing? Squat!

Sometimes, she wondered if maybe their sensei just hated them (or maybe he hated just her? After all, he rarely gave her much attention and barely any feedback). But, despite this, she wouldn't change her team for anything in the world. She was on the same team as Sasuke (insert heart eyes)! And… Naruto wasn't so bad now that she had gotten to know him better. Kakashi-sensei? Well, she did have to admit he knew what he was talking about, and he was extremely talented (she had recently learned of his reputation as the famous Copy-nin). If only he wasn't so late all the time!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of purple passing by. There was only one person she knew of that had that shade of purple hair… but she was supposed to be in the hospital still?

Sakura chewed her lip. The plan was to go into the hospital, but if Emiko-san was out here… that plan was moot. The question was whether to follow or wait to hear something from Sasuke or Naruto. Part of her felt that she should just wait. Naruto's plan hadn't covered something like this after all (she highly doubted that Naruto even had a backup plan…). But then, if they _did_ want to find out anything from Emiko-san, they needed to know her whereabouts.

She was probably going to regret this later, but she wanted to trust her gut feeling just this once. She was tired of sitting around and waiting. It was time to take action!

* * *

He had never been one for being patient. He was the sort that went head-on into things without waiting or thinking really. But, every once in a while, he could show that he actually had this virtue. However, the reason for his patience was usually directly linked to some sort of prank. Fortunately for the citizens of Konoha (more specifically Baa-chan and Iruka-sensei), this time his patience was not for a prank.

In a few minutes, he'd signal Sasuke and Sakura to let them know they could finally sneak in. They had to be very careful so that Kakashi-sensei didn't know anything about their visit with Emiko-san.

"Naruto-kun!"

"Eh?!"

His plan had barely just started, and he was face-to-face with Emiko-san of all people?!

"I'm glad I was able to catch you!"

She was smiling, but there was something missing in it. Naruto couldn't quite place his finger on what it could be.

"Catch me?"

Emiko pulled him further into the alleyway and out of sight.

"What was that for?!"

"Shhh!" She scolded. "Just bear with me…"

Naruto was half-tempted to just signal the other two, but he was curious. She seemed rather serious about wanting to talk to him (and alone on top of that!). And well, she didn't seem to know anything about how the village shunned him… so he wanted to make a good impression while she was still ignorant about such things. He was also very curious about her (hence his whole plan to visit her). The event on the training field earlier was still fresh on his mind.

"What is it?" he asked unable to hide the curiosity in his voice.

Out of the blue… she hugged him?

"Wha…" Naruto almost squirmed in her embrace, but he didn't.

To be honest… he had always wanted this sort of feeling. It was the feeling of knowing that you were loved. Sure, Iruka-sensei had always been there for him and supported him, but there was still that lack of love. Not that Iruka-sensei didn't love him! He knew his sensei did care for him deeply and loved him in his own way. It was just… well, it wasn't like Iruka-sensei could hug him like this. This was more of a… motherly hug? He wasn't sure how to explain it. There was just something about Emiko's embrace that was giving him that something he had always craved.

"I know about your parents…" she whispered.

"Eh?!"

"The village, everything," Emiko continued softly.

Naruto's eyes widened. "H-how…"

"Shhh… just listen please. There's not much time."

As much as Naruto wanted to know how and why time was a problem, he was more curious about what she had to say. So, for once, he kept his mouth shut and just listened.

"You've got a big heart. Don't ever lose that… or your will to fight and press on." She held Naruto a little more tightly, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "People will disappoint you… maybe even betray you, but don't let that cause you to lose that big heart of yours. You're a bright light to this village, even if they don't see it right now. You'll be a great man. I believe you will become Hokage. Believe in yourself and your friends and sensei. And always remember that you're never alone."

Emiko bit her lip as she reluctantly let Naruto go, time was running thin. "One last thing… don't hesitate to ask your friends for help or company." She gave him a small smile, holding back the tears that threatened to flow down her cheeks (why was she always so sappy at times like this?). "They care more about you than you might think. They just don't always know how much pain you're holding in. You don't have to bear this burden alone."

"What do you—"

But it was too late. She was gone, leaving Naruto with a strange but warm feeling in his heart. There was also another thought that was lingering in the back of his mind. What could it be?

"WAAAAH! Sasuke and Sakura are gonna kill me!"

* * *

Finding Naruto had been surprising easy, but then again, he seemed to be the only person in all of Konoha who wore a bright _orange_ jumpsuit (also being a blonde helped him stand out in a crowd). On the other hand… Sasuke was much more difficult to find. His dark hair and dark clothes didn't make it easy to spot him on the fly at all.

"Emiko-san."

While she certainly hadn't been expecting Sasuke to sneak up on her, she was glad that they had met. It meant that she didn't have keep trying to find him. Konoha was certainly a lot bigger than she had initially thought…

"Sasuke-kun."

"I have some questions for you."

She pursed her lips then turned to face him with a small smile. "Okay, shoot."

The younger boy looked surprised but quickly hid it behind his usual stoic expression. Apparently, he hadn't expected her to be so willing to answer his questions. While taken aback, he wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass him by.

"How do you have sharingan?"

Emiko stared at him blankly. "A… sharingan?"

Sasuke scowled. She didn't know what that was? How tiresome… it seemed like he wouldn't be getting any answers after all.

"A sharingan…" Emiko murmured to herself again. The word seemed vaguely familiar somehow?

Sharingan. She knew that word. There was something… a far-off memory connected to that word somehow. If only she could place her finger on it!

"It has to do with your eyes, doesn't it?"

Emiko felt like she was pulling things out of thin air, but somehow, it just seemed right. She could almost grasp that memory now.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and gave her a slight nod. Maybe Emiko-san wasn't as dense as he had been thinking.

She tapped under her left eye thoughtfully. "I was born this way…"

The words were just coming to her. She didn't really understand or know why. It was like something just _clicked_ in her brain. She was remembering things!

"It's an Uchiha thing," she found herself saying. And why on earth did those particular words make her heart tighten and clench uncomfortably? Why did she feel like she had heard someone say those very same words to her? A cocky but light-hearted voice that left her a warm feeling in her heart…

"You're an Uchiha?" Sasuke was looking at her with a mixed expression of shock and disbelief.

"Uchiha Emiko," she confirmed, suddenly feeling proud of her family name for the very first time.

"But how?" he demanded. "They're all dead! I'm the last Uchiha!"

Her smile faltered as she stared wide-eyed at Sasuke. "Wh-what did you say?"

"They're dead! There are no Uchihas except me and Itachi!" he spat angrily, fists clenched.

 _"Oh oh oh… ooooooh!"_ she gasped inwardly, connecting the dots in Sasuke's memories as well as in her own fuzzy ones.

"So, they're all gone…" she murmured to herself, trying to ignore that tight feeling growing in her chest. She should have known better than to hope… but enough of that! She wasn't here for herself.

"Sasuke-kun," Emiko started slowly, wary of the angry aura rolling off the younger Uchiha in waves. "I know your angry, but please hear me out."

The boy crossed his arms as if to say "you think?" But other than that, he seemed willing to let her speak. Because, if he was honest, he _was_ curious. Her sharingan was different. Everything about her was different from any of the Uchiha Clan members he had ever known. Genius or not, he was still a boy (fourteen—almost fifteen—but still a boy in the eyes of most adults!), and boys were not immune to the grasp of curiosity.

"Why do you hate Naruto?"

Sasuke tensed, looking away in confusion and frustration. "What has that to do with anything?"

"Nothing and everything."

The boy frowned. "You're being rather cryptic."

Emiko forced back a sigh. "Just answer the question please."

"Tch… how troublesome. Fine, I'll answer your question if you'll tell me more about your sharingan."

Emiko hesitated. It wasn't like she could tell him much… she knew so little herself. But then, she was remembering things. It was possible that the answer could come to her as they talked. So, it was worth a shot. It could be her one and only chance to get through to Sasuke.

"Sounds fair enough."

* * *

Sakura still couldn't believe she lost her. Emiko-san was much faster than she had anticipated. It was strange… she didn't seem to have sensed Sakura following her, but she still had managed to somehow escape her. It looked like Sakura had some new things to add to her training list.

She wondered if the boys had had better luck before kicking herself mentally. Of course they wouldn't! They were both probably wondering what happened to her since she hadn't seen Naruto's signal—that is if he had given it at all. She probably should have left something for them to go on before just taking after Emiko-san… Well, she couldn't undo the past. But she was rather exhausted from chasing the older girl all over Konoha.

Normally, she wouldn't do something like this (it was more of a Naruto sort of thing to do at a time like this), but she really needed a breather. And well, it really was the best option for her to inform Naruto and Sasuke of the situation.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two Sakura clones appeared beside her and were immediately sent off to find Naruto and Sasuke to update them on what had happened and where they could find her. With a sigh, she plopped down on a nearby bench.

_"I wonder where Emiko-san went…"_

She certainly seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. But to where?

Well, she wasn't going to get any questions answered for a while. Hopefully, it wouldn't take her clones too long to find the boys. Whenever they got her message and met up with her, they could regroup. And maybe, the boys would have something to share (she highly doubted it…).

* * *

Kakashi frowned from his perch atop the Hokage Tower. His main task was to find Emiko, but then, he had spotted something rather strange.

Sakura was running around looking very confused and frustrated as if she had been trying to tail someone. Well, if she had any tracking skills, she probably could have found whoever it was, but she was still rather inexperienced to have developed such skills at this point (perhaps he should add tracking to their training regime…).

As strange as that was, he really shouldn't be distracted by his students at this time. He was just about to head towards a different district when another student of his caught his attention.

_"Sasuke… what is he up to?"_

Finding Emiko was imperative, but it was also important to make sure Sasuke wasn't getting into any trouble. A sigh escaped his lips. Uchihas just had to be handfuls, didn't they?

It wasn't like Emiko could have gotten very far… He'd just check on Sasuke real quick, and then he'd be back to his central mission.

Following the young Uchiha wasn't difficult. Though, it seemed as if just like Sakura, Sasuke was also stalking someone. If this wasn't strange, Kakashi didn't know what was. Sasuke was more the type to lay low to avoid crowds—mainly fangirls. So who was he trying to shadow and why?

"Emiko-san."

The jōnin raised an eyebrow. There was his answer. And an unexpected one at that. He carefully made his way closer to the two Uchihas. Time to hear what was up between these two.

"How do you have a sharingan?"

Kakashi almost face palmed. He really should have seen that one coming… The Uchiha Clan had always been very possessive about the sharingan. Minus a few exceptions (such as himself), no one outside the Uchiha clan had ever possessed sharingan. It stayed in the Uchiha Clan, and they were wary and very critical of any who appeared to have sharingan without a drop of Uchiha blood in their veins.

"I was born this way…"

Very good answer. Honest too. But was it wise? He narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. The kid wasn't going to be too thrilled with that.

"You're an Uchiha?"

"Uchiha Emiko," the female confirmed.

"But how? They're all dead! I'm the last Uchiha!"

And there, it went. Maybe it was time to step in now and—well now… He cocked his head slightly. The conversation was taking a rather unexpected twist that would be worth listening to.

"Tch… how troublesome. Fine, I'll answer your question if you'll tell me more about your sharingan."

"Sounds fair enough."

Well, it seemed like he wouldn't have to intervene just yet.

* * *

Common sense tells one not to believe everything that one hears. However, common sense also reminds one that even a rumor can have a grain of truth somewhere in it. You just have to carefully comb through the lies to find it.

So when the whispers of an arrival of an Uchiha—and a female one at that—reached his ears, he didn't hesitate to get to the bottom of things. Could such a thing even be possible? He had been so sure that…

No matter, if there really was a female Uchiha running around Konoha, he needed to move quickly. If the rumors started traveling as fast as the usually did, the Hokage was sure to cover it up before he could do anything about it. And there was no way he was about to let an Uchiha slip through his hands if he had anything to say about it.

* * *

Sasuke wasn't sure why he was even bothering to answer Emiko's question. It really wasn't any of her business whether he hated Naruto or not. But a deal was a deal… she would tell him about her sharingan if he answered her weird question.

"I don't hate Naruto," he said bluntly. "It's more like I don't care whether he exists or not. He's just someone that I can use to become stronger."

After all, it wasn't like Sakura would be of much help. She was a girl. He needed someone who could challenge him. Naruto wasn't that promising of a partner to be honest… He had been the lowest in their class for crying out loud! But as they trained, Sasuke could sense something about the blonde. He had improved significantly after graduation. It wasn't a drastic improvement or anything. Naruto still wasn't anywhere close to his level. However, he seemed quite determined to be Sasuke's equal or rival. So, Sasuke had humored him to some extent. As Naruto got stronger, he too would become stronger. But of course, _he_ would always be the better and stronger one.

"Your turn." He nodded at the older Uchiha and crossed his arms in expectation.

Emiko hesitated. She wasn't about to go back on her promise… but where was she supposed to even start? What exactly _did_ Sasuke want to know? Right now, she really would prefer discussing Sasuke's issues.

Here went nothing.

"About my sharingan…"

* * *

_Flashback_

"You really should have stayed at the hospital until you are better," a voice was scolding.

"I know, I know, Okaa-san… I just wanted to be home."

"Your mother is right, you know. How is the rest of your team?"

"Oyahjii…" The young man scrunched up his face. "They're fine. We're all fine. I just…" he trailed off.

His parents exchanged knowing looks.

"Get some rest. You can tell us all about it in the morning."

He gave them a grateful look as he stood up.

_*Creak*_

"Onii-san?" a small voice called out sleepily. "Onii-san home?"

The three adults whirled around in surprise. "Emiko?"

The young girl smiled and held up her tiny hands up towards her older brother. "Onii-san!"

"What are _you_ doing up?" he asked, obliging his baby sister by picking her up.

She looked up at him with her big innocent eyes. "Onii-san home."

Their parents chuckled softly.

"Your mother made the mistake of telling her that you 'might' be home tonight."

"Onii-san home!" Emiko approved happily as she started fiddling with her brother's hitai-ate that hung around his neck.

"Hey now, careful with that," her brother scolded. While he was obviously the stronger of the two, it was still hard to get the chubby little hands off the hitai-ate. His sister was very determined to play with the metal plating. "You really ought to be in bed…"

But he couldn't really be upset with her. After all that had happened with the mission… it was good to see her and his parents again.

"Onii-san sad?"

He blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected his baby sister to have sensed that from him. While she might be more empathetic than the average three-year-old, one could not expect her to be able to actually sense the sorrow or sadness in others.

"Onii-san sad," she repeated but it was more of a confirmation. Her tiny hands let go of the hitai-ate to pull her brother's face down to face her small one.

He almost dropped her in surprise when their eyes met. Instead of seeing her dark blue orbs, he was met with a light magenta sharingan. Her eyes were locked on his almost as if she was staring deep into his soul… if this wasn't his baby sister, he would have been terrified to find a _three-year-old_ staring at him like that.

There was a soft gasp from his mother behind him, but he ignored it. His eyes were locked on his sister. What was she doing? What was she thinking? Was she okay?! He wasn't sure what to think… he could only worry.

"Onii-san no sad." Her hands were trying to force his face into a smile. "Sad bad," she insisted. "Onii-san home."

"E-Emiko…" His voice was uncharacteristically shaky (he was shinobi for crying out loud!). "I, I'm not sad."

His sister frowned and shook her head seriously. "Onii-san still sad. Mission sad."

He stared hard into her sharingan. It looked different somehow… "Mission sad?"

His sister nodded, still looking rather solemn—too solemn for a child at her age.

"No sad," she repeated again, poking a chubby finger at his chest. "Miko here. Onii-san home."

"No sad," he agreed, though he shot a worried and confused look at their parents. However, they seemed to be just as in the dark as he was… "Let's get you back to bed."

"Not sleepy! Miko awake," she insisted. "Onii-san home."

Her brother just chuckled. "Bedtime, Emiko."

"Nooooo!" the little girl whined as her brother carried her off. "No bed. Miko not sleepy!"

"Can't hear you!" her brother said cheerfully.

"Maaaaaah Onii-san is being mean!"

Their parents were chuckling to themselves as their children's voice faded away.

"Now…" the father turned to his wife with a serious expression. "What should we do?"

The mother pursed her lips. "I don't know," she admitted. "You think… they will be all right?"

Her husband sighed. "I hope so… as long as they have each other, they will be fine." His eyes softened. "They get along so well."

"Despite the large age-gap?" His wife shook her head, smiling slightly. "We will discuss this more in the morning. I believe we _all_ should be in bed."

 __ _  
_

_End Flashback_

* * *

Emiko didn't know when the tears started. Past memories had triggered them, that was all she knew for sure.

"I awakened my sharingan when I was three." She was proud that her voice didn't betray the feelings clawing deep within her soul. Sasuke didn't need to know what was going on with her internally.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "At three?!" he murmured to himself, unsure if he could believe something so, so outlandish. Awakening a sharingan at three? It didn't seem possible… unless she was some prodigy? If she was a prodigy… maybe she could help him. They were both Uchiha. Kakashi-sensei might have a sharingan, but someone of his own clan might be a better teacher.

"Emiko-san, I—"

He was cut off as Emiko suddenly hugged him tightly, preventing any chance of escape. Sasuke was _not_ a touchy-feely sort of person… but somehow, he couldn't push her away even if a part of him wanted him to.

"Don't let hate enter your heart," she whispered in his ear. "Hate never solves anything. You will only be left alone if you pursue your revenge. Do you really want to kill your own brother? He will face the consequences of his actions in due time. Don't let it be by your hand."

She sighed to herself at the lack of reaction from the boy. Sasuke was certainly a tough nut to crack. She had a feeling he wouldn't listen… and it hurt. This had happened before. She knew that her abilities weren't perfect. She couldn't always convince someone to go on the right path.

But oh, how she desperately wished Sasuke would. They were family after all. Distant… but still family. She had tried though… and that's all that truly mattered. She would have no regrets about never trying.

"People aren't steppingstones to your goal… you aren't meant to walk alone. Let others walk beside you." She slowly and reluctantly let go of the younger Uchiha. "Goodbye, Sasuke-kun."

"But, wait! I—"

He was a step too late… Emiko was gone.

* * *

He was lost in his own thoughts as he wandered aimlessly through the back alleyways of Konoha. He often travelled this way to avoid the judging eyes of the village. But this time, it was just to think without any distractions. These areas were rarely frequented after all.

"Na-Naruto?"

The blonde turned around in surprise at the sound of the familiar voice. Now what was _she_ doing here?

"Eh? Sakura?" Naruto stared hard at the wobbly (almost ghostly) form of his pink-haired teammate. "Are you okay?"

"N-Naruto… finally found you," she gasped, approaching him in a zig-zag fashion. "S-Sakura saw Emiko-san leave the hospital and went after her. Lost her and is at the p-park."

It took Naruto a moment to realize he was talking to a Sakura clone and not his actual teammate. It should have been obvious. Sakura's face was starting to look more like a blob of jelly…

He gave the clone an experimentally poke and _poof!_ it was gone. He frowned a bit. Sakura wasn't one to use clones on whim… he better head to the park and check up on her

He hadn't gotten too far along when Sasuke joined him. The boy was as serious as ever and didn't even bother to say anything to his teammate as the two ran side by side. However… there was some sort of unreadable expression in his eyes. It almost made him wonder—

"Sakura!" Sasuke was frowning down at the girl who was slouched on the park bench. She hadn't even budged when he called her name (should he be rejoicing or worrying?).

"Tch… she's _asleep_." He scowled as he gave her some experimental pokes before turning to Naruto. "What did she say to you?"

"Uh, just that she saw Emiko-san and that she was over here…" he trailed off uncomfortably. He had a feeling Sasuke might be mad about the whole plan falling apart since he had never signaled. He gulped nervously. "You?"

The Uchiha snorted and sat down on the bench (making sure there was _plenty_ of space between him and the pink-haired girl). "Yeah, same thing."

Naruto wasn't sure if he was lucky, but he was going to take it!

"I wonder where she went," he thought aloud, taking a seat between the Uchiha and Sakura.

Sasuke glanced at the blonde and shrugged. "Who knows?"

The two were—surprisingly—rather silent. If their female teammate had been awake, she certainly wouldn't have believed such an event was even possible. The boys were almost always getting into fights. It had been bad in the Academy, but it had simmered down a little bit as they got older (but not by much, sometimes it felt as if Kakashi-sensei could barely keep them from killing each other…).

"Hey, Naruto."

The blonde blinked and shot the Uchiha a puzzled look. Did Sasuke hit his head on something? That was not the sardonic or degrading tone he typically used when addressing Naruto.

"Yeah?"

"I'm… I'm sorry."

"Eh?" He blinked a moment before finally registering what the Uchiha had said. "Eeeeeeeeeh heh?!"

* * *

Climbing trees was not her specialty. In fact, she hated climbing. Oh, and heights. She hated heights too. So why was she climbing up this ridiculously tall tree?

To get a better view obviously! She needed to get some sort of idea of where she was and where she should go. Now there was a grim thought… Where should she go? This place was nothing like the Japanese village she used to live in. There were real live ninjas (shinobis!) out and about. And here she was out in the woods with absolutely no way of defending herself if she was attacked. Not to mention, she had no idea what other sort of ninja—shinobis—were out there. Oh hindsight was such a blessing.

Well, there was really nothing she could do now but press forward. She couldn't really just go back to Konoha. Not after what had happened at the training field. She couldn't. She _wouldn't._

It was a cowardly move, but she couldn't help it. She was scared. It was a whole new world. Shinobi or not, would they really accept her into their lives? Would they be able to see past her weird abilities and accept her for who she really was?

Well, leaving Konoha definitely wouldn't let her find out the answer to that question. Not that she actually wanted to have it answered. She was too scared of rejection. Maybe that's why she had always kept part of herself locked away. True, she could never fully hide herself, but there was a lot that people didn't really know about her. She had found a way to play different roles, and she would keep doing it as long as people would accept her. Even if they never knew her for her… as long as they didn't reject her.

But… a small part of her _wanted_ an answer. Could it be possible that they could accept her weird abilities, personality quirks, and all? After all, did she really know if they actually _knew_ about her abilities? No one had ever figured it out before (but this _was_ a different world…). Unfortunately, it was too late to think about things logically now with her imagination in full swing.

She mentally shook her head and strove to focus on climbing up the stupid tree (shouldn't she be at the top by now?!). Well, she was probably high enough to see over most of the trees by now. After getting up this branch, she could get a survey of her whereabouts.

 _"Just don't look down…"_ she thought dryly, gritting her teeth as she managed to haul herself up onto the branch. It was a big solid branch, making her feel a little at ease with putting her full weight on it as she stood up.

Bu this seriously was going to be the last time she ever attempted climbing a tree. It was extremely tedious, though her rough landing at the hospital could be contributing to the pains and struggles and not of the climbing itself. She was amazed that she was even able to get this far up. Normally, she probably would have been only able to get to the second or maybe third branch before accidentally looking down and either falling out of the tree or just clinging to the branch in fear. Perhaps some good ol' determination was all she needed to finally climb a tree.

Now… where in the world was she?

She scowled at the sight before her.

Trees.

For miles and miles… nothing but TREES?!

How was she supposed to figure out where to go from here if there were only trees and trees and trees surrounding the place? Shouldn't there be at least one other big village like Konoha nearby?! (She should have looked at a map or something!)

She groaned in frustration. Now what was she going to do? Spending the night in the woods did not sound fun…

"Ah, there you are, Emiko-chan."

Emiko froze, not daring to look over her shoulder. While she hadn't heard him land behind her, she knew there was no way she could have imagined his voice so clearly (and weirdly enough, she could tell it was him based on just his presence alone?). Not to mention that she had been so sure that no one had followed her… that no one would find her after she left Konoha. But what had she been thinking? This was a village full of ninjas or shinobis or whatever. There was no way someone like her would be able to actually sneak out from underneath their noses.

And of all people… it would be him.

"Hatake-san…"

The one person she really _really_ did not want to face. Kind of funny considering she only really knew about four (maybe five?) people around here.

"You're pretty fast."

"Whaaaa?" Emiko whirled around in surprise. That hadn't exactly been the reaction she had been expecting… and she really should have been paying attention before whirling around. She wasn't exactly the most graceful person in the world. In her sudden turn, she had lost her balance and was now falling from the tree branch she had been perched on.

She definitely was falling at a greater speed than she had expected. Her falling in dreams had always been a bit slower. Yep, her fear of heights was a legit one. Take that to all who scoffed at her fears! She was going to die from falling off the most ridiculously tall tree in the world. Yay.

However, Kakashi caught her before she was halfway down the tree and landed as only a ninja could. She couldn't help but be impressed at his skill and speed, it… it was just like those ninja mangas and stories she had read as a child. And to be honest, in her illogical mind (and very dominant imagination), she didn't really think he'd try to catch her.

And of course, with all those confused thoughts muddling her already muddled up brain… she would have to make the mistake for the fourth time that day. Her eyes had met Kakashi's lone eye as he shifted to stand up from his landing position.

* * *

Kakashi had never liked hospitals, but here he was for the second time that day. At least he wasn't here for himself. He was just waiting for the Hokage to arrive, and then, the two would discuss the latest findings and possibly talk to the patient (a.k.a. Emiko) whenever she woke up.

He frowned slightly as he thought about the female Uchiha, absentmindedly flipping a page of his book (though, he wasn't really reading at the moment…). She was quite the puzzle. The conversation she had earlier with Sasuke kept playing in his head over and over again. What could it all mean? And how had she known about Itachi? It was all very odd… Based on her looks alone, he'd guess that she was still in her teens which would make her roughly the same age as Itachi.

No, that couldn't be right. If she was around Itachi's age… then how did they miss her? It didn't add up. The records clearly verified that the _entire_ Uchiha Clan had been massacred. Itachi hadn't left anyone outside of Sasuke alive. So how did Emiko fit into all this? She had said something about being at an orphanage since she was four…

Maybe she had somehow met Itachi outside of Konoha? He shook his head. Even if they _had_ met, he didn't think Itachi would share such information with Emiko (fellow Uchiha or not). She must have found out a different way… but that sort of information wasn't easy to access. And he had been monitoring her the whole time. Well, that was if you didn't count the short time she had 'escaped' from the hospital. But even then, there had been no time to dig up such things!

There were so many questions and little to no answers. He, unfortunately, hadn't been able to catch all that Emiko had said to Sasuke. If he had, maybe then he'd have at least some answers. He glanced at the hospital room then down the hall. Still no signs of the Hokage… if she were here, he could see about looking at those documents on the Uchiha Clan again or maybe she had found something.

Well, she wasn't here, so he had more time to think.

_"Uchiha Emiko… who are you?"_


	4. A Sense of Belonging?

"So… you're telling me that she _randomly_ activates it?"

"Maaa, something like that."

"Not very helpful, brat!"

Well… this certainly was all unexpected. Emiko hadn't anticipated waking up to the sound of two people arguing, at least it _sounded_ like they were arguing. The hospital room, however, wasn't a surprise (she _had_ passed out again…). She sighed as she reluctantly opened her eyes.

"Oh, she's awake."

Emiko sat up to see the Hokage and Kakashi looking at her with serious expressions. She barely stopped herself from looking straight into their eyes. It was like there was some sort of weird magnet that seemed determined to pull her eyes toward theirs. But she wasn't going to let that happen, not this time! She tightly gripped the hospital sheets and forced her eyes to stare at the whiteness stretched across her lap. She hated the suffocating feeling in the room… the air was just thick with an indescribable tension.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered hoarsely.

The two adults glanced at each other, apparently, neither had been prepared for that sort of reaction.

"It just happens. I don't know how or why," Emiko continued, twisting the sheets in her hands. "I tried to stop it. I really tried… but it just does its own thing, my eyes I mean. I just see it, and I don't mean to. It was an accident, honest. I won't cause any trouble…"

She knew she was rambling, but she had to say what was on her mind. Yes, they would know her deepest secret (well not _completely_ ), but she just couldn't stand the thought of them thinking badly of her. They had been rather kind to her even though she had just popped out of nowhere. There was no way to repay their kindness… so she had to at least apologize for some of the trouble she had caused during the past day (days?).

"I understand if you want to arrest me…"

Okay, maybe that was a bit drastic, but something told her that wielding this 'sharingan' wasn't something anyone was supposed to be able to do. This was mostly just based on the little she remembered from her own memories and what she had sort of picked up from Sasuke. And well, her imagination was always going overboard in making up various scenarios that might or might not actually happen… She _was_ feeling a little light-headed now that she thought about it. Maybe that's why she felt off-kilter?

"Arrest you?" The Hokage sounded surprised. "What made you think that?"

Emiko fidgeted, looking everywhere but at them and wishing that magnetic-like _pull_ would just stop!

"Sasuke-kun was asking why I had sharingan…" she admitted quietly.

The Hokage shot Kakashi a sharp look to which he just shrugged. This wasn't exactly the best time to share his knowledge of the _private_ conversation between Sasuke and Emiko. He hadn't mentioned that to Tsunade yet because he had been waiting for a better place to discuss such things.

"I was born with it!" she blurted suddenly, looking up and almost met Tsunade's (thankfully, the Hokage had turned just as Emiko had looked up).

The two adults gave each other odd looks before looking back at her.

"Of course you were," Tsunade started slowly. "Only the those of the Uchiha Clan are born with sharingan."

"I wasn't sure," Emiko admitted. "Sasuke and the others seemed surprised that I had them. I don't even know how _you_ know that I have them."

She glanced at the two adults curiously (still being very careful _not_ to meet or catch their eyes directly). They were sharing odd looks again…

"I think you'll understand better if we show you." The Hokage pulled out a small hand-mirror from her pocket and tossed it to the young Uchiha.

Emiko raised an eyebrow in confusion as she took up the mirror. How exactly a mirror would help was—

"What's wrong with my eyes?!" she shrieked.

She stared at her reflection in horror. How on _earth_ did she have magenta colored eyes?! The black swirls around her irises were also a bit disconcerting. This couldn't be normal...

The Hokage cleared her throat. "That would be your sharingan."

Emiko stared hard at her eyes. "My… sharingan?"

So, this was what a 'sharingan' was? Her eyes changing to a strange color—as if blue wasn't crazy enough!—was just something normal for an Uchiha? But as she stared at it… there was something strangely familiar. She felt like she could remember if she just stared long enough. There was something there—she just knew it!

The Hokage cleared her throat again, interrupting her concentration. "Now that you know that… it's time that we discussed some more important matters."

Emiko glanced up from the mirror, still being careful _not_ to lock eyes with either adult. "Of course… but um, first, could maybe one of you tell me how do something about these?" She pointed to her eyes. "I'm not sure how to make them go away?"

The two were staring at her with blank looks—which was a little intimidating, considering they were the adults and ought to know more about this than she did.

"You… don't know how to deactivate it?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

She squinted at him. "I'm pretty sure that's why I just asked."

The Hokage pursed her lips, looking torn between being amused and being irritated. "Kakashi, I believe you can help her with her sharingan."

The jōnin blanched, but it wasn't like he could refuse the Hokage. "Maaa, shouldn't be that hard."

Emiko looked at him eagerly.

He blinked. _"Well… this is going to be interesting."_

* * *

Yesterday had been a fascinating day. No, that was a bit of an understatement. It had been more than interesting. It had been unexpectedly crazy. Ever since they had met Emiko-san, things had changed. Sakura glanced at her teammates. Not that the change was a bad thing. It was actually kind of nice not to have to constantly play peacemaker between the two. The only question was… how long would it last?

"Oi… I wonder where Kakashi-sensei is?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence.

Sasuke shrugged, fingering his shuriken. "He'll probably be late like always."

Sakura sighed. "So, what should we do? Wait?"

The three gave each other knowing looks. They were all tired of waiting.

"Let's train."

Sakura and Naruto looked at the Uchiha curiously. "Train? Without Kakashi-sensei?"

Sasuke nodded. "It's not like we can't train on our own. We're genin now. We don't need constant supervision anymore. We only really need Kakashi for teaching us new techniques during training."

"True…" Sakura admitted, ashamed that she hadn't thought of that. They weren't kids at the Academy anymore which meant that they really should start learning to do things alone without constantly depending on adults. And well, she _had_ been doing some solo training on the side.

"Sounds good to me!" Naruto jumped onto his feet. "Let's get started."

The three genin eagerly started their training together as a team. Together, they could get some sort of training done even if their teacher showed up way too late again.

Unbeknownst to them, a Kakashi clone was hidden above in the trees, watching them with a smile. It seemed like they were finally getting somewhere. Perhaps there really wasn't a need to be so worried about his team.

* * *

There was a saying somewhere that said, "nothing is swifter than a rumor." The phrase could not be more true in Konoha. News traveled fast, but a rumor always would travel faster.

He was hearing more and more whispers about the strange newcomer. Someone no one really knew anything about—not even the gate guards! How could someone enter the village without the gate guards knowing or any of the shinobi of Konoha for that matter?

Something wasn't right there. There was no way someone could slip through without his knowledge… unless _someone_ was keeping it from him. The thought made him frown.

Well, _two_ could play at that game. It looked as if he needed to pull some of his own strings to get to the bottom of this. If _he_ were Hokage, he'd be sure to take care of things properly. He wasn't going to sit around and let the Hokage endanger the people with this… Uchiha.

The fact that such a rumor was already rampant—okay, so only a handful of civilians were talking about it—showed how poorly this was being managed. If more civilians started talking about this, they might start to doubt the ability of the shinobi of Konoha to protect them. That was something the Hokage should never allow! The shinobi were the heart and soul of the village. They protected the village and always did what was best for the village.

And to think that this 'newcomer' was an Uchiha. He still had trouble understanding how something could happen. How could there be another Uchiha? A _female_ Uchiha at that?

While that was frustrating, what was more frustrating was the fact that he couldn't find her! She had finally been spotted, but unfortunately, she had been too quick—a very interesting fact—and then the Hatake had brought her back. The Hokage certainly was trying to keep this hidden, but she wouldn't be able to keep playing this game much longer.

Soon, _everyone_ would know about this, and it wouldn't be his fault. If she had just informed him, they could have prevented rumors and handled everything nice and quite like.

But no, the Hokage liked to have her own little secrets, not caring how she might be endangering the village. Well, if she wouldn't step up, he would have no choice to make his own moves. Besides, the Uchiha would be _his_.

"So…"

He really wasn't much of a conversation starter. And of all times, the Hokage had to be called off to important 'business.' Which… left him alone once again with the female Uchiha. He was supposed to be helping her deactivating her sharingan, but it wasn't easy when she refused to look him in the eye so he could get a good look at her sharingan.

"I'm not sure I understand this…"

"Maaa, just try to think about how you activate them?" he suggested.

"I don't know?"

Well, that made things difficult. She didn't know how she activated them? How in the world did she survive this long without any decent training…? He was surprised she hadn't passed out from chakra depletion.

"Okay then. Let's just try focusing on your chakra again."

Emiko made a face but nodded. The concept of chakra was still a little foreign to her, but she wasn't about to let Kakashi know _how_ unfamiliar it was. She was still trying to sort out her own memories after all…

She furrowed her brows, trying to feel or focus on her chakra. There was something vaguely familiar about it.

_"You can do it. Remember what I taught you. Your sharingan will go away as you relax and let your chakra relax. Be calm, Miko."_

"There!" Kakashi said proudly (though why he felt so proud was beyond him…).

Emiko blinked a couple of times. That magnetic pull-thingy feeling was no longer bothering her eyes. She could actually look Kakashi in the eye without any visions or anything.

"Give me the mirror!" she demanded.

The jōnin quickly handed the mirror over.

And what a relief it was to see dark blue eyes staring back at her... Who would have thought she would be so comforted to see blue eyes instead of brown?

"Finally…" She looked back up at Kakashi with a bright smile. "Thank you."

He just shrugged. After all, he hadn't done much. She had done it all on her own.

"So um… now what?"

Now _that_ was a good question. The Hokage hadn't exactly left them with anything to go on. Just to help Emiko deactivate her sharingan. Nothing else.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. It was probably best for the two of them to stay here for the time being. He had heard some rumors from his clone that worried him. If those rumors continued… well, it wouldn't be good for Emiko to be stepping outside just yet. They needed to wait on the Hokage.

* * *

For the first time since the bell test, Sakura truly felt like she was on a team. Naruto and Sasuke weren't fighting and were actually letting her join their training. Normally, the two would just spar—'fight'—and leave her to her own devices. But now? They were helping her out with some of the things she struggled with, and in return, she helped them with their chakra control. And surprises of surprises! They were listening to her, actually _listening_! She had to pinch herself a couple of times when they weren't looking to make sure this wasn't a dream… or horrors! could it be a genjutsu? No, they couldn't be _that_ advanced.

"Hey, Sakura!"

Not too far away from their training field was her friend Ino and the rest of her team: Shikamaru and Chōji.

"Ino? What are you doing here?"

"Is that the way you treat your best friend?" Ino pouted. "We just finished training for the day and were wondering if you wanted to hang out."

"You mean _you_ were wondering… this is all troublesome," Shikamaru muttered only for Ino to elbow him.

Sakura glanced over at her teammates. Naruto probably wouldn't mind… she wasn't sure about Sasuke. He usually avoided everyone. And with it being Ino asking, he'd say "no," right?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Sasuke said as he put away his shuriken.

Naruto was beaming. "You're going to join us, Sasuke?"

"Isn't that what I just said?" the Uchiha grumbled.

Ino wasn't sure if she should be concerned or overjoyed. Sasuke was _actually_ going to join them for once! Even Shikamaru hadn't seen this one coming… but it was troublesome to think about that too deeply. He just wanted to get this 'hanging out' over with.

Despite his reluctance to socialize, Shikamaru found himself joining the conversation of the other three boys. It wasn't all bad. After all, it wasn't every day Sasuke and Naruto were actually getting along.

With the boys 'distracted,' Ino had the opportunity to pull Sakura to the side as they walked.

"So, what's up with Sasuke? Does it have to do with the new Uchiha?"

Sakura inhaled sharply. "How did _you_ know about that?"

The Yamanaka raised an eyebrow. "Rumors… so it is true? There is another Uchiha?"

The pink-haired kunoichi hesitated before nodded. "From what I can tell," she admitted. "I don't know for sure. Kakashi-sensei never actually told us directly." She glanced at her teammates walking ahead of them. "But those two seem to know something…"

"What's this Uchiha like?" Ino couldn't help being curious. They all knew very little of the Uchiha Clan since the massacre had happened seven years ago, so the Uchiha were quite a mystery to their generation. "Anything like Sasuke?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nothing like Sasuke… Emiko-san is more hmmm open?"

The two girls had to giggle at that. Their shared crush was rather aloof and mysterious. Always avoiding the girls and rarely interacting with others. Very stoic.

"So, her name is 'Emiko'?"

"Mhmmm… she gave some good tips on my taijutsu stances."

"Ha! That's good, you really need to improve there," Ino teased.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched dangerously. "Speak for yourself. I know you're not that much better than me."

"Whatever," the blonde kunoichi scoffed. "But really, Sasuke is acting a little… odd?" She nodded at the Uchiha talking _happily_ (at least, what could be classified as 'happy' for an Uchiha…) with Shikamaru. Sasuke was just different today. He was… smiling? At least, to Ino, it _looked_ like a smile? Okay, maybe that was stretching it a little? But still, she really felt something was different about the Uchiha. Almost as if he was more relaxed? He wasn't so stiff and serious when she had invited him. Maybe he was finally opening up to her—them?

Sakura was almost tempted to ask if Ino was referring to Shikamaru with that nod. Her teammate was acting just as weird at the moment. But she didn't really feel like arguing on that point. There were still a few things that she was curious about.

"He is," she admitted with a shrug. "He's been like this ever since—" She stopped short. Was it even okay to discuss this? If there were rumors going around… maybe she wasn't supposed to talk about it?

Horrors! Sakura stopped short. She already _had_ said something. Her eyes widened in shock as she remembered her actions from the previous day… It was _her_ fault that there were rumors going on! After all, hadn't she been the one asking around if anyone knew Emiko or had seen her? If this was something that wasn't supposed to be talked about… she had already leaked it _all_ out!

"Sakura? Are you okay?"

"I'm so dead…"

* * *

To put it bluntly, the Hokage was _not_ thrilled. Things weren't exactly going the way she would have liked, not at all. Hadn't she said the position of Hokage was an unlucky one?! She apparently had pushed her luck a little too far on this one… It took all of her not to drum her fingers on the table in frustration. A meeting with the Konoha Council was not something she had on her schedule.

"This is a very serious business, Hokage-sama."

She leaned back in her seat, forcing back a sigh—or was it a huff? "It is being handled."

"You call these rumors 'handling' it?" Danzō asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tsunade never liked Danzō… There was always something about him that made her a little uneasy.

"It is being handled," the Hokage repeated. "No matter what we do, rumors will always spread somehow."

"But this is a serious matter," Mitokado pressed. "This could endanger the entire village."

The Hokage resisted the urge to rub her temples. "While I agree that it _could_ become a problem, as I said before, it is being handled. We have her monitored and have been looking into how she suddenly appeared in our village."

Utatane shook her head. "Yet you did not let the us know or consult us. It is important for the council to be aware when something like this happens. What if there are others behind her?"

"The ANBU have been on the alert as well as the gate guards and jōnin…"

She wasn't a careless leader. Of all people, she knew how dangerous a situation like this could be if handled poorly. The council should know that her better than that…

"What do we know of this… newcomer?"

The Hokage once again resisted the urge to huff her frustration. The look in Danzō's eye was not comforting…

"There is not much to say. She is a young girl of eighteen named 'Emiko.'"

The council exchanged knowing looks as if they had a secret only they knew.

Mitokado cleared his throat. "There have been rumors that this 'Emiko' as you call her… that she is an Uchiha. Is that true?"

The Hokage did her best to keep her anger in check. She just hated the way the council was judging her right now.

"It is."

* * *

The wait had been long but not horrible. Emiko didn't seem bothered by the lapse of conversation, allowing Kakashi to pull out his _Icha Icha_ to read to pass the time. The Uchiha had glanced at the book curiously but made no comment. It was kind of nice. It wasn't every day he could sit around and peacefully read his book in front of a young lady without said young lady staring at him or badgering him with questions about his 'type' or what was under that mask of his.

However, all good things must come to an end… for Shizune had come in and reported that the two were requested—more like _required_ Kakashi thought—to come with her to see the Hokage and Konoha Council.

Emiko looked puzzled but followed quietly. It wasn't like she could argue after all. She _had_ attempted to run away which apparently wasn't the brightest thing… and well, with being an Uchiha in a mostly Uchiha-less village probably had something to do with this whole having to meet with the Hokage and council. At least, that's what she could come with. It wasn't like she had memories of the village politics… She could only make up things based on the logic and the little she knew of everything.

* * *

"Eh?!"

Sakura covered her friend's mouth. "Shush!"

Ino glared and pushed the pink-haired kunoichi to the side. "They aren't paying attention anyways." She gestured to the boys who were having some sort of competition, neither could really tell what and neither wanted to know… "But this is serious, Sakura."

"I know!" Sakura wailed. "What am I going to dooooo?"

Her friend pursed her lips and shrugged. "Maybe you'll get lucky? I mean, I'm sure there were rumors going on before _you_ said anything. Think about it…"

"It's still not comforting. How could I make a mistake like that?! What if I've ruined everything?"

"Calm down, Sakura," Ino patted her friend's back. "We're just genin… But, if you _really_ want to know, we could always ask him." She nodded at Shikamaru. "He could figure something out."

"I don't know…"

"Oh come on," her friend scolded. "Or do you want to get in huuuuuuge trouble?"

"Don't remind me…" Sakura sighed in defeat. "Let's ask him."

While he was known for being extremely lazy, everyone knew that Shikamaru was the brains of their class. If anyone could figure out a puzzle, it was him. This wasn't exactly a puzzle perse, but it was a problem. And, if they could goad Shikamaru in the right way, he just might exert himself a little to solve it.

The two girls approached the boys a bit warily. Sakura was still upset about her mistake and was hanging back behind Ino.

"Anyways, we were plannin' to sneak into the hospital to see her, but then…" Naruto was gesturing wildly. Apparently, they had finished their competition and were now just talking. Er, no, Naruto was telling them some sort of story from what Ino could tell.

"Then she was gone! She's gotta be one of the fastest people I've ever met," the blonde was continuing. "I was going to go after her but like I said, she was super fast, I couldn't tell which way she went. A purple blur was all I saw. And then Sakura's shadow clone wobbled up to me and—"

"Naruto!" The pink-haired kunoichi stared at the blonde in horror.

"What?"

"How could you?!" she screeched, cheeks reddening in embarrassment and anger.

"How could—" He wasn't able to finish his sentence as the kunoichi grabbed him by his collar and started shaking him furiously.

"Baka, baka, baka! You shouldn't be talking about Emiko-san at a time like this! And not to mention…" Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she continued to shake him. "You _promised_ not to mention my shadow clones outside of us two! I'm still working on it!"

"S-Sakura…" Naruto wheezed. "I can't… breathe."

Sasuke sighed. "Let go of him, Sakura."

The kunoichi reluctantly let go of Naruto, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"Th-thanks…" The blonde coughed a bit and tried to give his best apologetic look to Sakura. "I thought your clones looked pretty good this time. You got such great chakra control that you'll master it soon. If you wouldn't get so picky about _how_ they looked, you wouldn't—"

"Shannarō!"

Ino grabbed her friend before she could attack Naruto again. "Calm down, Sakura! Remember… that's not what we're here to talk about."

The pink-haired kunoichi was still fuming but managed to 'calm' down to some extent. "Right." She ignored her teammates' looks and turned to face Shikamaru. "I need your help."

Shikamaru did not looked thrilled. "Me?"

"Yes, _you_. It's about Emiko-san."

"I don't see how that relates to—"

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped in. "Shouldn't you be asking me or Sasuke?"

The ever so slight twitch of her eyebrow was warning enough. The blonde gulped and stepped away from the angry Sakura.

"Eheh… never mind then…"

"Anyways," Ino side-eyed Naruto and Sasuke. "Sakura is worried about the rumors about Emiko-san. She thinks she might have been the one to 'leak' it out. We were hoping _you_ could figure something out, Shikamaru."

"I still don't see how that relates to me."

"You're the smart one!" Sakura gave him a pleading look. "I don't want to be dismissed as a kunoichi when I've barely even started."

Now _that_ caught his attention. "Dismissed?"

Ino nodded sympathetically. "Apparently, Emiko-san is supposed to be kept hush-hush."

Naruto and Sasuke were looking a bit pale…

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "And I can help because?"

"Like Sakura said, you're the brains. You can figure it out."

"How troublesome…" he muttered. "I don't really think it's that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?! I could get branded as a _traitor_!"

Ino had to once again hold back her friend from attacking.

The shadow-user waved her off. "You're overthinking it, Sakura. The rumors started before you even met her."

Sakura stopped struggling in Ino's grip. "What?"

"I overheard my dad talking about the rumors the day before yesterday. Apparently, some civilians spotted her with Kakashi-sensei. And then somehow, someone overheard her saying something about being an 'Uchiha.'" He shrugged. "So the rumors are obviously not your fault. You got worked up over nothing."

"Like always," Naruto joked.

"Na-Ru-To."

The warning barely gave him enough time to take off.

* * *

After being 'excused' from the meeting (not much of a meeting in her opinion, she was merely introduced then promptly sent out while the adults talked), Shizune had guided Emiko to a waiting room of some sort to, well, wait…

There was a lot to take in, so the thought of waiting didn't bother her. She just hoped that the wait would be long enough for her to get a better grasp of her situation. And boy was there a lot to think over.

She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. This current scenario felt rather familiar.

_"Well, she does pose quite a problem for us."_

_"It's not like we can just get rid of her. That wouldn't be right."_

_"Perhaps send her somewhere else?"_

_"If only it were that simple. Where would we send her? No one knows really anything about her past or background. The fact that she has been here this long shows that she just doesn't belong here."_

_"I'm sure we can figure out something. Perhaps an orphanage in Tokyo? The people in the city might be more open."_

_"No, no. The city will be more judging. We will just have to keep her here. She can stay and help around as an extra hand or something. We will make her useful somehow."_

Yes… she remembered overhearing that conversation back at the orphanage. The adults were always 'secretly' meeting to discuss what to do with her. Each year that she wasn't adopted… meant that they had to really consider what to do for her future. The orphanage would be responsible for her if she wasn't adopted as a child and teen, but once she became an adult? Well, it seemed they saw her as just an additional help or tool.

She cracked an eye open to glance at the room where Kakashi, the Hokage, and the Council were in. If she concentrated really hard… she just might be able to catch what they were saying.

_"As an Uchiha, she will make things a bit precarious for the village," a man's voice commented._

_"Then what do you suggest we do?" The Hokage sounded irritated. "Get rid of her?"_

_"No, that would do us no good," another man's voice was disagreeing. "We would never do that."_

_"Of course…" The Hokage didn't sound convinced. "At present, I think it would be best to just keep an eye on her and let her settle in. There is no use rushing the girl."_

_"But what are we to do with her?" This wasn't the Hokage, but an older woman's voice. "She is an Uchiha."_

_"We could use her to an advantage," the first man suggested. "After all… Kakashi has mentioned she has interesting traits and abilities. One that was interesting was that she seems to have no scent. We could—"_

Emiko didn't want to hear another word. She had heard more than she ought to. Seems like even in different worlds things didn't change. She would never quite fit in, would she? Whether it was the orphanage or here… people didn't know what to do with her, so they would just use her for whatever she could do for them.

But at least this meant they wouldn't abandon her completely? After all… she was an Uchiha. That had to count for something, right?

* * *

After Kakashi had given a brief (and not very detailed) report on Emiko and her current abilities and status, the Hokage dismissed him—later, he would give a more detailed report to her about his other findings. Her sharingan could not be hidden… but not everything had to be revealed.

"She has no scent…" Danzō said thoughtfully as the jōnin was dismissed. "That's crazy, but that could make her a valuable asset as a kunoichi. She would be practically untraceable with that and if she is able to control her chakra signature…."

"But she has no training. She couldn't possibly—"

"She's a genius and an Uchiha. It's possible," Danzō argued. "Also… from what we have seen, it seems as if she has had some sort of training based on her taijutsu skills. It wouldn't take too long to get her onto the field. She has a special sharingan that could prove extremely beneficial. We could give a special test and make her a jōnin."

"A jōnin?! That is stretching it. A genin is possible. Maybe even a chūnin … but most definitely not a jōnin! Not to mention she's the only female living Uchiha. Making her a kunoichi this late with barely any experience will cut off the Uchiha line for sure."

While Utatane had agreed in the past that the Uchiha Clan should be destroyed for the better of the village, the situation now was different. She didn't regret their decisions. The Uchiha Clan had been a danger to the village. However… with a young female Uchiha under their guidance, without the influence of the elder Uchiha was an opportunity not to be missed. They could use her to create a new Uchiha Clan that would follow their ideals and prevent them from ever becoming anything like what they were in the past. How could Danzō and Mitokado not see that they needed her _not_ to get into trouble? Having her become a kunoichi would only bring misfortune to the village.

But it seemed they were determined to make the female Uchiha a weapon for Konoha. Not that it should have really been a surprise to the Hokage. That's how they basically treated Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke. Why not Emiko too?

This was exactly why she had not wanted to the council to know about Emiko until she had been able to figure something out…

This whole situation right now, made Tsunade's blood boil. But as even as Hokage, she couldn't just go against Konoha's Council. Weren't politics fun? At times like this, she really mourned being coerced into accepting the title of Hokage. Curse you, Jiraiya!

* * *

Even if she was able to slowly remember parts of her past… it was still a little difficult to get a good grasp of what was all happening to her. Everything still felt so confusing and all turned around.

"You okay?"

Emiko looked up in surprise. "Hatake-san…"

The jōnin tilted his head to the side. "Thought you might be thirsty." He held up two canned drinks from behind his back before tossing one to her.

She gave him a grateful smile as she caught the can. The coolness of the aluminum felt nice against her fingertips. "Thank you…"

He merely shrugged and took a seat beside her.

It was silent between the two as they sipped their drinks.

"So… what is going to happen to me now?" she asked quietly as she fiddled with her can.

Kakashi glanced at her from the corner of his eye. It had been a long day for everyone… and well, she deserved an answer. It wasn't like she'd be getting a direct answer by anyone else anytime soon.

"You'll be staying with me for the time being…" At least until the Hokage and council could decide on a better place for her. "Start training to become a genin." He paused a moment then added, "And you'll be monitored to make sure you're not a threat."

"Me, a threat?" She wrinkled her nose. "I'm just a normal teenage girl…"

He shook his head. "Not to them. You're an Uchiha after all."

Emiko sighed, crumpling her now empty can in her fist. "Guess it could be worse."

She obviously wasn't going to be leaving Konoha any time soon… but somehow, she didn't mind. There was a sense of belonging, even if it was a fake or temporary one.


	5. The Training Begins

With all that had been going on the past couple of days, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura weren't sure what to expect when they arrived at the training grounds. There was no sign of Kakashi-sensei (or Emiko-san for that matter). It seemed like they would be on their own again.

Sakura glanced at her two teammates. "So, what shall we start with today?"

Sasuke side-eyed Sakura. "Oh… I don't know." His eyes narrowed slightly. "How about _shadow_ clones?"

Naruto gulped. Trigger word! Trigger word! For the love of all sanity, whyyyyyy did Sasuke have to ask _that_ of all things?

Sakura was—surprisingly—calm. "I was thinking about some water surface walking practice. I feel like some more chakra control practice is in order."

"I have to agree with Sakura-chan. Some chakra control practice would be beneficial for all four of you."

Four?

The three genin turned around in surprise.

"Yo," their sensei greeted. Beside him was Emiko, looking just as bashful as she had when they first met.

"Kakashi-sensei!" they gasped.

For—surprise surprise!—Kakashi was actually on time for once (well, _technically_ he was still a little late by maybe five or so minutes? But who was counting…).

"Glad to know that you have been working on some training on your own." He gave each a light pat on the head. "Though, you two," he directed his attention on Naruto and Sakura. "Shouldn't be excluding Sasuke from your training."

The two looked away in shame.

"I'm impressed that you two have been able to work together do shadow cloning, but you shouldn't do it at the expense of your other teammate."

"I'm sorry," Sakura murmured, cheeks flaming in embarrassment. The truth was… she had seen Naruto creating the clones and just had to learn it! It wasn't the easiest jutsu and could just possibly impress the Uchiha. So, she had approached Naruto privately to see if he would be interested in showing her how to create shadow clones, and well, he had been overjoyed to teach her. This was her chance to show Sasuke that she was a very capable kunoichi who could do things that other genin girls in their year couldn't (take that, Ino!).

Naruto had explained it needed a lot of chakra _and_ a lot of chakra control—which was her specialty—and that it was useful for pranking—which she ignored, since she had her own reasons which were more _useful_. And well, it was a technique that not many could master at a genin level. She had heard of the others in their class briefly mention the shadow clones, but none of them had really attempted it. If they had, they could never make as many as Naruto could (he was lucky to have so much chakra!). That, and theirs were probably not as perfect as hers due to chakra control—okay, okay, hers weren't _quite_ perfect, but she was getting there! She could make two pretty good ones if she said so herself. It had taken her weeks to get one good shadow clone, so she had the right to be proud of two decent clones.

And well… it wasn't like she _hadn't_ thought of inviting Sasuke. With him being a bit more friendly lately, she had thought of asking him if he'd like to join them, but she had been too chicken. It was possible that he'd reject the invitation because she was involved. It wasn't like he liked her any better than Naruto.

"I'll forgive you on one condition."

Naruto and Sakura looked at the Uchiha in surprise.

"You two have to teach me how to make shadow clones as well."

The Uzumaki beamed. "That's it? No problem!" He wrapped an arm around Sakura. "We'd be more than happy to teach you, believe it!"

Kakashi smiled in approval. His team was really coming together nicely. Who would have thought that these three would finally start becoming friends—real friends?

"Save that practice for later, okay? We have some chakra control to work on." He nudged Emiko forward.

"Emiko-chan will be joining us again. She'll be needing some help from you three to get used to working with her chakra."

The genin exchanged excited looks. Perhaps, after practice, they could talk to Emiko-san. They hadn't seen her since the whole hospital episode. Sasuke and Naruto were eager to discuss their past meeting with her while Sakura was more interested in having a female teammate to just talk to.

But all that would have to wait. They had some major chakra control practice to work with. The three genin lead the way to the river with Emiko and Kakashi trailing behind.

They were quite familiar with this training. It was one of the many exercises they'd been practicing.

Emiko pursed her lips slightly as she stared into the river. "So… how does this water walking training work?" she asked Kakashi quietly.

The jōnin cocked his head slightly. "The kids will show you." He nodded towards to Naruto and Sasuke who were currently taking off their sandals.

Sakura bit her lip then stood closer to Kakashi. "Um, Kakashi-sensei? Don't you think this might be too advanced for Emiko-san?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in response.

"She's not a genin yet. Shouldn't we just do tree climbing—"

"Ah Emiko-san!" Naruto called out cheerfully, effectively cutting off Sakura's questioning. "Are you ready?"

"Umm…" Emiko glanced down at her worn-out tennis shoes. If they were taking off their sandals… she better do the same. "Almost!"

She pulled off her shoes and rolled up her pant legs before she hurried over to the shoreline of the river where the others were waiting. Sakura sighed and followed after but not before shooting the jōnin-sensei a disappointed look. How could he jump to something so advanced?

The jōnin followed after the two girls at a much slower pace. He admitted to himself that this was a bit of a stretch, but Sakura had been suggesting it. So it was the perfect opportunity to test out Emiko's abilities as a possible prodigy. If only Sakura knew that she was the one that had somewhat presented the idea… The jōnin chuckled to himself as he made himself comfortable not too far away from the shoreline.

"All right, just remember focus your chakra on your feet and adjust your chakra as you walk," Naruto was explaining to Emiko with a mischievous grin.

If the Uchiha had known Naruto just a little better, she should have known that smile meant some sort of trouble.

Sasuke had just been about to hold out his hand for Emiko to take as support when Naruto gave the female Uchiha a slight shove towards the water.

"Waaaah!" The Uchiha stumbled forward, flailing her arms in an attempt to stay balanced and not fall face first into the water. Instinct seemed to be taking over as she managed to stay upright—and dry! The water beneath her feet was moving—constantly moving—making it impossible to stay still if she didn't want to go for an impromptu swim… So, instead of confronting Naruto like she initially wanted to, Emiko was skipping across the river, trying to keep her chakra focused on her feet while—more importantly—staying dry. She hadn't even realized that she had gotten the hang of using her chakra… She was just trying not to sink into the water.

"Am…" She took a leap toward some more 'steady' looking water. "I." She found a rock! "Doing." Oh look! Another rock! "This." That water spot looked safe enough. "Right?!"

Naruto didn't know if it was okay to laugh or not. Emiko was quite the sight to behold. She was skipping across the water frantically, flailing her arms and trying so very hard not to get wet. But overall, her chakra control didn't seem half bad—Kakashi-sensei _had_ said she needed to get used to her chakra. If she just calmed down, she might actually be able to get some more progress with her chakra control...

"Emiko-san!" Sakura gingerly ran over to her with Sasuke and Naruto hot on her heels.

"AH! Please don't touch me," Emiko called out, flailing her arms again as the three genin surrounded her.

"But Emiko-san, you just need to calm down then you can—," Sakura began.

"I _am_ calm!" Emiko made a dash through the space between Sasuke and Sakura. "I just—" She turned on her heel. "Don't want." A half-skip to her left. "To get wet!"

"We'll make sure you don't get wet!" Naruto tried.

"That's a lot coming from yooooouuuuuu!" Emiko retorted as she kept skipping around along the river. It hadn't dawned on her to get _off_ the river by heading for the shore.

"Emiko-san!" Sasuke moved to block the Uchiha but she jumped back and preceded to head in the _opposite_ direction. "Tch…"

Emiko was not making it easy for the three genin. She was really fast! So much for a chakra control training session… Kakashi-sensei wasn't even attempting to help! It looked like they would have to figure out this on their own.

"Naruto! Sakura!" Sasuke called out. "Chase her towards the bank!"

The blonde looked puzzled but followed the Uchiha's instructions. Sakura, on the other hand, caught on to Sasuke's plan. If they guided her over there, she'd be on dry ground and would be—hopefully—calmer…

Well, that had been very amusing to say the least.

* * *

Kakashi strolled over to his exhausted team plus one. After quite the amount of running around on the river, the three genin had finally been able to guide Emiko back onto shore. The female Uchiha had given Naruto some choice words, leading the two into quite the childish fight—kinda cute considering the typical fights Naruto had with his other teammates.

"Konoyarô!"

"Saitei!"

The very child-like name calling had no venom behind it. The two were actually just bantering like old schoolmates. Though… it was a little unnerving how _well_ the two seemed to be getting along even through their bickering. Sasuke looked a bit jealous—annoyed? Not that he could be blamed. After all, _he_ was an Uchiha like Emiko and well, Naruto was not.

Well, at least they had stopped their childish antics. No wait… Emiko had just stuck her tongue out at Naruto while the latter responded with an akanbē.** So childish.

Soooo, now that they were all _finally_ calmed down, they had all flopped down in exhaustion to rest. Kakashi couldn't help chuckling softly at the sight.

"Nice chakra control," he teased the four.

The four responded with tired glares.

"No thanks to you," Emiko grumbled. "I thought you were supposed to be a sensei?"

Kakashi shrugged as he sat down beside his students. "More or less."

"More like less," Naruto whispered, causing Emiko and Sakura to giggle—to Sasuke's credit, he did crack half a smile.

The jōnin either hadn't heard or just didn't care. He was busy reading his little orange book.

Emiko propped herself up on her elbows and looked at the book curiously, trying to get a good look at the title. "Whatcha reading?"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Naruto interrupted and leapt onto his feet, blocking Emiko from seeing Kakashi's book. "Lunch! We should eat lunch!"

Kakashi glanced up from his book. "Lunch sounds good. Why don't you four head out, and we can finish out training afterwards?"

"Sounds great!" the blonde agreed hurriedly, urging his teammates to get up. "We'll be back before you know it!"

The jōnin nodded absentmindedly, eye glued to his book as the four headed back towards the village.

Emiko was a little puzzled, but she _was_ getting hungry after all that running around. She'd just have to ask about the book some other time.

* * *

As much as he would like to continue sitting around and reading his _Icha Icha_ , he knew that now was probably a good time to report to the Hokage while Team 7 and Emiko were preoccupied. There was a bit to discuss… he hadn't been able to report as much as he would have liked thanks to the Konoha Council.

The report shouldn't take long. He'd be back reading his book by the time the four came back.

"Hokage-sama."

The Hokage had her back turned to the jōnin when he arrived. Her office had a decent view of the entire village.

"Report?" she asked quietly.

"Maaa, something like that. Unless… you have something you need to tell me first?"

The Hokage glanced over her shoulder then nodded at some old and worn looking scrolls lying on her desk. "I managed to find some interesting records on our newest Uchiha."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he took a step forward to look over the records.

"I wasn't able to find out much," the Hokage admitted. "Much of the Uchiha records have been lost… but I did find something that you might find beneficial as you continue to train her."

The jōnin made no response, silently taking in the information written before him.

_Uchiha Emiko. Age: 3. Considered for entrance to Academy. Rumored to have awakened sharingan._

Kakashi gave the Hokage a sharp look. "Age three?"

The Hokage motioned for him to read on.

_Uchiha Katsuhito rejected Academy invitation for Emiko. Stated he did not want his daughter to pursue the life of a kunoichi. Probably a reaction from his son's death on mission. Perhaps when she is older—_

The records cut off there. Not leaving them much to go on.

The Hokage sighed as she looked up at the jōnin. "It seems like Danzō could be right. She might be a prodigy. But…" She leaned back in her chair, frowning ever so slightly. "She has not been properly trained since she was a child. We must keep that into account and not expect too much for her no matter what the council says or thinks."

Kakashi just nodded, knowing the Hokage didn't expect a verbal response just yet.

"If she does appear to be a prodigy, please keep it as quiet as possible. There isn't much we can do to prevent her from becoming a genin… but I wish to prevent them from using her as a tool to protect the village. So please, keep a close eye on her. Update me with any news about her progress."

"As you wish, Hokage-sama."

It looked like he really had his work cut out. Oh well, wasn't like he could really complain. He'd muddle through somehow. It was just a little difficult since Emiko seemed to have no idea of what all her ancestry entailed… That, and she was more of a prodigy than even he had expected.

* * *

Several months had now passed since Emiko had first arrived in Konoha. The days were flying by so quickly, she could barely remember her old life in that far away place… She was kept busy with constant training and private lessons with a chūnin teacher from the Academy when she wasn't training. Apparently, they were in a hurry to for her to become a genin along with the rest of Team 7. But these things took time! While she might be remembering some of the very few skills she had learned before (had she actually learned anything at age four?!), it wasn't like she could immediately recall everything and become a genin in such a short amount of time.

What did they think she was? A prodigy? At _this_ age?

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were in their early teens while she was hitting her late teens. She was _behind_. So… she could kind of see their hurry, but then again, couldn't they remember that she _didn't_ remember everything about Konoha? Just because she was an Uchiha like Sasuke didn't mean she was as clever and smart and skilled as him—though, she was a little smug after discovering her chakra control and reserves were much better and larger than Sasuke's (but that could have to do with her age). Still, to everyone's pleasure (minus maybe her own… things were going too fast), she had been able to pass the genin test and was officially a kunoichi. And now, they were pushing for her to get ready for the Chūnin Exams with the rest of Team 7! Wasn't becoming a genin this quickly good enough for now?!

The only good thing about all this constant training and learning kept her happily busy. She did _not_ want to remember her first couple of days here… (She may or may not still be a little teensy weensy bit salty about the water walking episode with Naruto.)

Today was another solo training session with Kakashi—the other three genin had been dismissed and were enjoying some time off from missions. The training was getting a little more intense now that she had been able to make genin (on the bright side, the jōnin didn't seem eager to have her ready for these upcoming Chūnin Exams).

At the moment, the two were panting heavily. No, scratch that, _she_ was panting heavily. Kakashi didn't even appear to be breaking a sweat. Not that she should have been surprised. He had been doing this practically all his life! She was just a beginner… at least, that's what it felt like even if she was a genin now.

"You." Kakashi narrowed his eye at her. "Your taijutsu is weak. You need to work on it. That, and your defense. Your blocks are on the weak side."

"S-so?" Emiko huffed, still trying to catch her breath. But seriously, she wasn't really used to practicing any fighting skills (unless you included that short karate camp the orphanage had participated in when she was like what… ten?). She was more of an acrobat than a fighter. Speed and agility were more up her alley. Though, she supposed she _could_ improve on being a little more graceful.

The jōnin just shook his head. "It's important to be able to do more than just attack. You're pretty speedy. Use that to evade and dodge. Taijutsu isn't just about attacking."

She sighed, straightening up. Now, why did those words sound so familiar?

_"If you don't work on your taijutsu, how can you become a good kunoichi? You need to balance out your abilities. You pick out the form well, Miko, but you need to practice the form yourself. Use your speed against your enemy."_

Everything here was so foreign yet so _familiar._ It was hard to explain, but it was like she had been here once "in a dream, or a dream of a dream."** She knew that it was because she was actually from here… but that wasn't how it really felt. After all, she had lived over ten years elsewhere and only about four years here (past years anyways). Of course, Konoha would feel a little foreign.

And yet, there were faint memories appearing little by little.

She could somewhat sense them as she started sparring with Kakashi again, adjusting her stance. It was strange… somehow, it just felt right. Like an invisible hand was guiding her to move just so. She was actually able to block and swiftly dodge some of Kakashi's blows now. He was going easy on her… but a little improvement meant a lot to her. She was getting somewhere slowly but surely.

* * *

After training—or rather, after Kakashi was summoned to see the Hokage, Emiko decided she might as well make some use of this spare time to finish sewing on a little project of hers. She reached into her pockets and pulled out a little sewing kit that contained her tools and project.

"What's that?"

She looked up from her work, smiling up at the pink-haired kunoichi. "Oh this?"

Sakura nodded curiously as she sat down on the grass behind the older girl. "I've noticed you been working on that the past couple of days. I didn't know you could sew."

"Ah, well, just wanted to make something," she admitted. "I'm making a sort of fingerless glove to match my hitai-ate." She gestured to the hitai-ate carefully wrapped around her left wrist.

Sakura nodded again. "I can see that. You're really good."

"Ah well, I've had tons of practice with sewing back at the orphanage."

The little boys and girls often got their clothes torn up when playing, so as one of the older—or rather _only_ older—orphan, she was often responsible for sewing and patching up holes and tears. At this point, she could probably sew with her eyes closed (definitely not something she would want to actually try…).

Her thumb lightly brushed over the soft blue piece she had sewn over the black glove part. She had taken a bit of her old hitai-ate to make this little project. After all, it wasn't like she could wear two hitai-ates. But she still wanted to have a bit of it with her at all times.

There was just something special about that hitai-ate.

* * *

_Flashback_

"I'm sorry…"

Giving this sort of news to parents was never easy. It wasn't his fault… He was just the messenger. But having to share _this_. No, it was never easy.

"He fought bravely."

The words were kindly meant, but they didn't change anything. No 'kind' words could change things. Words—no matter how well meant—couldn't bring him back.

"I'm so sorry," the messenger repeated—as if saying it again would make a difference.

"Uso!"

The messenger was startled as he felt something beating against his legs. Looking down, he saw a purple blur attacking him furiously.

"Emiko!" the mother scolded and grabbed the young child before ducking in a quick bow to the messenger in apology.

"Lies!" the child repeated, tears pooling out of her eyes as she glared at the messenger. She struggled in her mother's arms. "Onii-san promised! He promised to come back. He promised!"

With a determined push, the four-year old forced her way out of her mother's arms.

"Onii-san is coming back!"

She gave the messenger a sharp kick to the shin before taking off.

"Emiko!" her mother called out, but it was too late. She was gone.

Her husband sighed softly, rubbing his wife's back as he gave the messenger an apologetic look. "Thank you for your time…"

The messenger just nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss… I was told to give this to you."

He held out the hitai-ate that once hung around their late son's neck.

"Thank you…" The mother whispered as she accepted the item and clutched it close to her chest.

It was the only token they had left of him.

The messenger almost apologized again, but the father shook his head. He had done his duty. It was time for him to go and let the family grieve in piece. These were tough times… He just hoped the young child would be okay.

* * *

"Liar. Liar, liar, liar!" she screamed, throwing every fibre of her little body against the wooden dummy. "Liar! You lied to me!"

"Katon Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

A weak but steady stream of fire left her lips and incinerated the dummy. She gritted her teeth as she stared at the dying flame. She had finally done it… It was weak, but still a _katon_ like her brother's. But she felt no pride in her skill.

_Blankness._

_Numbness._

_Emptiness._

She had _finally_ completed a katon, but the one person that she wanted to show it to was no longer there.

"Liar…" She coughed hard, feeling the after effects of the not so perfect katon. Her lungs felt stuffy as the smell of smoke assaulted her. Her throat felt so scratchy and dry. And now, she just wanted to cry—everything just hurt so much. But there were still emotions boiling over inside of her as she started to attempt the jutsu once more.

"Kato—"

Cool hands wrapped around hers before she could finish the hand-signs, abruptly ending her jutsu before it had really gotten started. She angrily looked up to see who dared to interrupt her.

To her surprise, charcoal eyes met her navy ones. All of her anger deflated as she stared into the soft and worried eyes staring deeply into hers.

"Are you okay, Miko?"

"Sh…Shi… Shi…" Her lips quivered as she wrapped her arms around her friend and let her tears flow. Her throat tightened as mixtures of sobs and gasps wracked her body.

"He… he lied. He lied to me, Shi-Shi," she whispered hoarsely. "He lied. He's such a liar."

"Who is?"

She found herself tightly grasping Shisui's shirt. "Onii-san. Onii-san is a liar. He promised… he promised to come back. He was going to help me with copying his katon… He promised."

The older Uchiha remained silent as he patted her back, calmly waiting for her tears to subside and dry.

How long they stood there, she didn't know. Minutes? Hours? She just knew by her sore muscles that it had been a long time. Her parents were probably worried… It was very late now. Much later than she or Shisui were allowed to be out.

"Feeling better?"

Emiko shrugged, breaking off the hug to brush away the last of her tears.

"Come on." He held out his hand. "I'll walk you home."

She cracked a small smile. "Thank you, Shi-Shi."

He returned her smile with his usual bright one. She was lucky to have him as a friend… him and— _oh!—_ Tachi. She considered them as her best friends even if they had only been friends for a couple of weeks.

* * *

Under normal circumstances, they would have been chewed out royally for being out so late. However, Emiko was just hurried inside the house by her mother while her father told Shisui that he would walk the young Uchiha home.

The boy couldn't deny his surprise at the lack of scolding, but judging by how Emiko had been when he saw her at the training grounds, he shouldn't be so surprised. That, and her father seemed more serious than he normally was (after all, Emiko's family was one of the more laidback families in the Uchiha Clan).

"Is Miko-chan going to be okay?" he asked hesitantly, looking up at the older Uchiha.

Emiko's father paused a moment. After all, he wasn't sure how his daughter was handling everything. At least for the moment, she seemed calmer than when she had first received the news (he knew he had Shisui to thank for that…).

"I hope so," he murmured.

Shisui pursed his lips slightly. He knew as a child, he shouldn't be prying, but he was worried about his friend. Miko had been uncharacteristically violent with the old wooden dummy… Something wasn't right. She had called her brother a liar. That just wasn't Miko. She absolutely idolized her jōnin brother.

"Jinpei-san didn't make it back… did he?"

Emiko's father placed his hand on the young boy's shoulder and slowly nodded his head. His heart was still heavy from the news, but he could let his daughter's friend know. She would be needing the support of friends her age.

* * *

Emiko's mother remained silent as she helped her daughter prepare for bed. The silence was unnerving… It meant her mother was extremely upset. With her? Or was it the news?

Emiko wasn't sure and didn't have the courage to ask. She remained as quiet as she could as her mother brushed her hair, wincing at every rough stroke. Her hair was rather knotted today and maybe a little ashy? Her mother was grumbling something under her breath about the amount of dust and ashes coming from her hair. Probably meant she'd have to take a bath in the morning…

"Goodnight," her mother said a little stiffly as she put away the brush and tucked her daughter into bed.

She shuffled towards the door and turned to put out the light.

"O… Okaa-san?"

Her mother paused. "Yes, Emiko?"

She chewed the inside of her mouth in hesitation. "He's… He's not coming back, is he?"

She knew the answer. As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew the answer. In her mind, she knew the truth. The messenger hadn't lied. She knew it. Even as a four-year-old… she knew it. It was her heart that just wasn't ready for this. While she may have seen death through her brother's eyes, she still didn't quite understand the reality and finality of it.

"No… he's not," her mother whispered.

She left without another word, sliding the door closed behind her before falling to her knees. It was such a harsh world… She knew she shouldn't be so cold to her youngest—now only—child, but her heart was in such pain. Emiko looked so much like _him_. Then she had run off… scaring her half to death! She couldn't lose another child. She just couldn't.

Things would be different tomorrow. Emiko would not leave her sight. She was determined to protect her daughter no matter the cost.

After taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself, she slid the door open a crack to see her daughter one last time before bed. A small smile graced her lips.

Emiko was asleep, probably exhausted from all her running around and overwhelming emotions. In her hand, she was clutching the old hitai-ate that her mother had left for her.

"Sleep well, Emiko," she murmured. "Stay safe, my little one."

_End Flashback_

* * *

The memories of the past were never really happy ones… so Emiko wasn't really surprised to feel tears on her cheeks.

"Emiko-san? Are… you okay?"

The Uchiha brushed her tears away. "Ah sorry about that. I just was remembering something."

Sakura pursed her lips slightly. "Oh."

Emiko finished her last stitch and used her teeth to cut the last bit of thread. "There… all done."

She proudly put on the fingerless glove, admiring her work with a sad smile.

Memories… a blessing and a curse.

She sighed as she put away her sewing kit and turned her attention on the clouds above.

"Can I ask you a question, Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired kunoichi cocked her head to the side and nodded. "Of course."

"Do you… do you think I'm a good kunoichi?"

It was a random question… but with all that had been going on, she was a little nervous and unsure of herself. Like what exactly was that whole 'katon' thing? She could breathe fire? Her memories hadn't been very helpful in explaining that bit. Was she really capable of any of this now?

"Of course you are." Sakura smiled brightly at the older girl. "You've been training and studying hard. You're a genin like the rest of us."

Emiko shrugged. "If you say so…"

Sakura seemed to have sensed her uneasiness.

"I know so," she affirmed.

"I just…" Emiko was gnawing on her lips. "I just feel so out of place. Like, I don't really fit in here."

"I know it's not easy," Sakura started quietly. "I'm actually the only kunoichi in our class who comes from a civilian family… so it was hard to fit in at first." She gave the Uchiha a small smile. "But, with friends, it got better. Ino became a very close friend of mine. She showed me the ropes and helped bring me into the class." She blushed a little. "I… I hope I can do the same for you. I don't know exactly where you came from, but I do know what it's like to feel like the odd one out."

Emiko cracked a small smile. "I… I appreciate it."

* * *

"Stop staring at me."

"I wasn't staring!" Naruto insisted. "I was just… um… looking. There was something in your uh hair!"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow in a not amused fashion. "What do you want?"

The blonde shifted uneasily. After all, his current friendship with Sasuke was a little shaky. While the Uchiha wasn't as rude or snobby as he used to be, there was no telling how far his 'good' mood would stay. Naruto couldn't help feeling a little worried that Sasuke wasn't serious about being friends. The apology back then had felt genuine enough… but what if it was all a lie?

"I uh… Well," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I was just wondering if you and Emiko-san are close?"

The Uchiha blinked before staring hard at the Uzumaki. "Close?"

"Yeah… I mean she's an Uchiha too, right? I thought maybe you'd be umm well close? Like siblings or friends? You even call her '-san.'"

Sasuke shrugged. "Not really." He side-eyed the blonde. "She's an Uchiha like me, so I can call her 'Emiko-san' if I want to. Besides… I thought _you_ seemed rather close to her."

"Me?!" Naruto gasped. "What makes you think that?"

He raised an eyebrow again. "Well, the two of you seem to get along pretty well. You two are quite childish when together…" He sounded a bit jealous now that Naruto thought about it. "You and Emiko-san are always joking around together."

"I mean yeah… but you two seem to be pretty chatty after training," Naruto pointed out. "She always talks with you when we're done."

Sasuke merely snorted. "I think we're about even when it comes to Emiko-san… but why ask?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't really know… there's just something about her, you know?" He snuck a glance at the Uchiha. "I mean, that one day you apologized. Emiko-san said something to you, didn't she?"

The Uchiha gave him a sharp look. "How do you know that?!"

Naruto held up his hands in defense. "Because she did the same to me."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. "Explain."

"Um well. She just kinda seemed to know everything about me even though she's new here." Naruto rubbed his finger against his cheek in a sheepish fashion. "And well, she just seemed to understand how I felt."

"So you too then…" Sasuke murmured then glanced at Naruto. "Do you know how she knows?"

"I was hoping you knew," Naruto admitted. "I tried asking her once, but she doesn't seem to want to talk about it."

"Tch… I haven't had any better luck. She just avoids the topic when I try."

"So what should we do then?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Just leave it. She'll open up in her own time."

It was Naruto's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You think so?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yes, I think so. Now, let's just forget all that, okay? You're supposed to be helping improve my shadow clones."

"Shouldn't we wait for Sakura?"

The Uchiha sighed. "Fine… we'll wait for her. Just stop staring at me."

"Sorry…" Naruto snuck another glance at Sasuke. "Can I ask one more question?"

The Uchiha let out a long-suffering sigh. "Just _one_."

"Are we really friends now?"

"What kind of question is that!"

"A genuine one…" Naruto looked a bit hurt.

"Tch… Yes, we're friends. Why even ask?"

"It just… feels a little too good to be true," the blonde admitted. "I mean, I kinda felt like you always hated my guts when we were in the Academy and even when we got on the same team with Sakura… I felt like you just put up with me."

The Uchiha huffed. "Things were different then. Don't think about the past, Naruto. I—"

"I'm so sorry!" Sakura interrupted as she ran up to the boys. "I was talking with Emiko-san." She glanced at the two boys. "Did I keep you waiting long?"

Sasuke waved her off. "No, let's just get started, okay? We don't have all day to practice this."

The other two watched him stalk off.

"What's up with him?" Sakura whispered as they hurried after Sasuke.

"Ah… nothing. Probably just wanting to hurry up and get started. You know how miffed he is that he still hasn't gotten those clones even after practicing all these months."

The pink-haired kunoichi rolled her eyes. While it was true that the Uchiha hadn't been able to completely master the shadow clones, Sakura knew him better than that. There was something else there. Naruto must have said something to him or something… She would get to the bottom of this while they practiced.

* * *

Another day, another training session.

Emiko wondered what would be in store for her today. She vaguely remembered Kakashi saying something about learning what her affinity was. Whatever that meant…

"What's that?"

Kakashi held the small sheet of paper between his two fingers. "This is chakra paper."

She pursed her lips. "Okay… what does it do?"

"They show what your nature affinity is."

Emiko cocked her head slightly. "Oh, so do they work kind of like pH paper?"

Kakashi blinked.

"Ah, wari. Something I learned back at the orphanage," she waved it off. "Sorry about the interruption…"

He pursed his lips but continued, "If you concentrate your chakra into the paper, the paper will react based on your affinity. For fire, it will burn and turn to ashes. Wind, it will split in half. Lightening, it will crinkle. Earth, it will crumble. Water, it will dampen."

He flicked the paper to Emiko who caught it between her fingers. Her reflexes were never poor, but they certainly had improved with all the training she had been getting lately.

"Seems simple enough," she mused, focusing her chakra to the hand that held the paper.

The paper seemed to be getting suddenly rather wet before it started smoking.

"Ummm… did I do it right?" She looked up nervously.

However, Kakashi didn't seem upset. Okay… he _was_ frowning, but not at her. If that made sense? She wondered what got him feeling like that.

"Two affinities?" he murmured to himself before clearing his throat. "Looks like you have an affinity for water and fire."

Emiko stared at the chakra paper. "So what exactly does that mean? I work with water _and_ fire?"

"Maaa, that's one way to put it. You basically work best with those two natures. It'll be easier for you to mold your chakra with water and fire-related jutsus."

She gnawed nervously on her lips. "So… um, does that mean I can do the Great Fireball Technique?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye slightly. When did she learn about that? While it _was_ a specialty of the Uchiha Clan—a rite of passage of sorts, Sasuke had not used it in front of Emiko. She had always been conveniently gone whenever he had used that particular technique.

He raised an eyebrow. "Great Fireball Technique?"

The female Uchiha squirmed a little under his sharp gaze. "Um yeah, I just remember learning it as a kid. My brother..." She bit her lip. "My brother could do it, and he was teaching it to me."

Ah, so she _was_ remembering things. Though, based on the info the Hokage gave him… that meant her brother was teaching her when she was roughly three to four years old. He wasn't sure what to make of it. It meant that she _had_ been a prodigy of sorts when she was younger, but did she still possess that particular ability and knowledge? He'd have to let the Hokage know about that later, for now… there was only one way to find out what she did remember and if she could perform it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a few brief notes of explanations for you all. You probably noted the little asterisks (**) in this chapter, and they shall be addressed below in order of appearance.
> 
> **Akanbē is basically a type of Japanese facial gesture. To quote Wikipedia, "it consists of someone pulling down one's lower eyelid to expose the red underside towards someone, often accompanied by the person sticking their tongue out. It is considered an immature taunting gesture."
> 
> **"In a dream, or a dream of a dream" is a quote/reference by King Edmund in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (page 186).
> 
> **All dialogue marked with double asterisks (**) are direct quotes from the anime/manga. For the memories, I thought it would be best to get some stuff directly from the anime/manga.


	6. The Reality of This World

The two were sitting on the grass of the training field in silence. There was a faint scent of smoke in the air, but other than that, it was kind of nice to rest after all that practicing. Kakashi was reading that little book of his while Emiko was staring up at the clouds, deep in thought.

"I don't think they really wanted me to become a kunoichi," she stated quietly. "My parents I mean…"

It was random—especially since she was already a genin, but it was something that had been on her mind for awhile now. And well, it just came out before she could stop herself.

" _Probably didn't. If you had ended up going to the Academy… they'd probably be content if you were to just stay as a genin."_ But Kakashi wasn't about to voice those thoughts to her—or the knowledge he had about her father's choice to reject an early Academy invite. He chose to remain silent and focused on his book.

"I was too young to really think about how serious this life was. I just figured I would eventually go to the Academy just like my brother had…" she continued as she started twisting the tip of her ponytail around her finger, not wanting to try to surface _those_ memories. "Back at the orphanage, I didn't remember or care about ninjas. I liked reading about them and maybe watching a movie about them, but that was it."

She scowled and plucked out a rather long strand of purple hair, wondering why she was even sharing this information. It wasn't really like she had to explain or justify why she was the way she was or that she actually remembered bits of her past life in Konoha. "I had different dreams back then… I only ever fight when I have to." She sighed and abandoned twisting her ponytail to hug her knees. "I don't care if I get hurt. As long as no one else gets hurt… I'll fight tooth and nail."

To be honest, her words didn't surprise him. It was just a confirmation of what he had already observed. During training (practice fights and such), Emiko had always seemed a bit hesitant—though, her taijutsu was slowly improving! However, whenever something or someone attacked a teammate, she was the first to be on the offense and attack. She didn't hold back anything and went full force (kind of like Naruto now that he thought about it). For not being much of a fighter, she put up quite the fight for the sake of others. For not even knowing his team very long, she was fiercely loyal to each and every one of them (himself included, but of course, he wasn't counting himself, why would he?). But still… while he admired her devotion to the team, he firmly believed that she needed to sort out her skills. She was being reckless and just asking to be killed by always going head on when defending her teammates.

She really shouldn't be a kunoichi. It didn't fit her… Okay, to be honest, _he_ didn't think it quite suited her, prodigy or not—but who was he to say such a thing? Why should he care if she became a kunoichi or not? It wasn't really any of his business.

Emiko was… well, she was not kunoichi material. She had the abilities, yes, but she just felt like someone that shouldn't take this walk of life. There was just an innocence about her. And well, she just didn't seem to enjoy fighting—not to mention she was pretty reckless when she _was_ fighting. He didn't want to even consider how she'd be in a real battle… would she even be able to withstand the trauma of it all?

"I wanted to become a writer."

Kakashi glanced up at her sudden confession. Not that she had noticed, she was still staring at the hair she had twisted around her finger.

"Words are easier to share on paper." She was now picking at the small burns on her fingers. "But I guess that's not meant to be, huh? Not with the way things are now."

Emiko suddenly stood up, rubbing her wrists as she did. "Shall we get back to training?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow but nodded as he also stood up. There was still a lot for them to do… and he still needed to figure out what exactly Emiko had been taught as a child. She knew how do to some fire jutsus. He wondered if there were any other jutsus she could still do.

* * *

"So… tell me again, why are we here?" Naruto scowled at the various scrolls and books spread out across the table.

It took all of Sakura not to yell at the blonde—they _were_ at the library after all. Her eyebrow twitched in agitation as she forced back her Inner Sakura.

" _We_ are here to study!" she hissed as loudly as she dared. "Don't you remember that there's probably going to be a written section for the Chūnin Exams?"

"Written?" Naruto squinted. "We aren't fighting?"

It was Sasuke's turn to send the blonde and annoyed look. "Haven't you been listening to a word Sakura has been saying? She's been going on about this ever since she studied up on the Konoha Chūnin Exams.

"But why a written test?!"

"I don't know!" Sakura threw her hands up in the air. "They just do, so we _really_ should get some studying done. If we all can pass the written, we can _all_ make it to the next stage," she shot Naruto a warning look. "If only one of us passes, only that _one_ will get to go to the next stage, got it? The others will have to wait until _next_ year to take the exams again!"

The blonde swallowed. Waiting another year did not sound like fun… He sighed as he reluctantly grabbed one of the books Sakura had picked out for him. Studying wasn't something he enjoyed doing, but for the sake of the team, he supposed he ought to put some effort in it.

But it wasn't easy. The words in the book were making him go cross-eyed. What was all this supposed to mean anyways? It seemed more like a jumble of words to him…

He snuck a peek over his book. Sakura was focused for sure. She was reading a book and madly scribbling notes—maybe for him? Sasuke seemed to be reading, but who knew?

"Pssst."

The Uchiha's brows furrowed, but other than that, he didn't respond.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto tried whispering louder before nudging his friend under the table with his foot. "Saaaasuke."

A pair of annoyed eyes peered over the book to face the Uzumaki. "What?"

"Are you getting any of this?"

Sasuke sighed and closed his book. "I _was_ until you interrupted."

"Sorry… just none of this is making any sense." Naruto frowned as he glanced down at his book then at the list of questions Sakura had made for each of them. "Are they really going to test us on this sort of stuff? Like, do we really need to know how far you can throw a shuriken and how much it spins and stuff?"

The Uchiha shrugged. "It's useful to know."

"Useful?" Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Right…"

"Just try to get some studying done." He nodded toward Sakura. "I'd rather not make her mad."

The blonde sighed. He didn't want to anger the pink-haired kunoichi either… but really, all this studying was making his head spin. Ooo, and it was making him hungry!

"Could we maybe break to eat?" he asked hopefully.

* _Craaaaack!*_

The boys felt a chill run down their spines as they slowly turned to face their female teammate. There was a black aura coming from her, and it looked like that cracking sound came from the now broken pencil in her hand. She had snapped it in two…

"Do. You. Two. Want. To. Fail?"

The boys gulped and quickly picked up their books once more. Whether either was actually studying was questionable… but at least it seemed to have calmed the angry kunoichi. Unfortunately, this probably meant Naruto would have to wait a little longer before he could attempt asking about getting lunch.

* * *

After working on some more taijutsu practice for another hour, Kakashi had decided that Emiko had enough practice for the day. Tomorrow, they would work on some other things now that her taijutsu was more solid.

The Uchiha had no complaints. She was just glad to be done for the day.

"So where are the others?" she asked as she stretched out her arms some—didn't want to be too sore the next day if she could help it!

Kakashi shrugged. "Maaa, who knows?"

Emiko rolled her eyes. While Kakashi was Team 7's leader and sensei, sometimes, he didn't feel like a very responsible teacher.

"I guess I'll go see if I can find them around," she decided. "Do…" The Uchiha side-eyed the jōnin. "Do you want to join me?"

Kakashi studied her curiously. While the two _did_ spend a lot of time together, it was mostly just because he was in charge of her training and * _ahem_ * living arrangements. They actually didn't 'hang out' outside of that. He wasn't sure how he felt about the idea of getting close to someone. He was more of a loner. He did have friends, just not extremely close ones—excluding Gai. Gai was close. And with the way things currently were with Emiko… he couldn't deny he felt nervous.

She was different. She was a girl. She was an _Uchiha_.

He really had the rottenest of luck. To be cursed by not one, not two, not even three, but now _five_ Uchiha. Life just would not let up on him.

"Sooooo do you or do you not want to come with me? I'm not going to wait forever for an answer."

"Maaa... I suppose I could join you."

Insert foot in mouth. Why in Konoha had he _accepted_ her invitation? Especially after inwardly cursing his bad luck with the Uchiha family. Well, too late to back out now that he had accepted. Besides, the Hokage _did_ want him to keep a close eye on her.

He was just watching her. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. Honest.

Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling around for his _Icha Icha_ as he followed Emiko. The book should keep him distracted from thinking too much about things while still keeping an eye on the Uchiha.

* * *

"Don't you think we've studied enough now?" Naruto yawned.

All the words were blurry now. He had been staring that them almost all day now. He believed they all deserved to call it a day. Studying was hard work… He'd never complain about taijutsu practice ever again! With all this studying, he swore he'd almost take Gai-sensei and Lee's training regime of running around 100 laps on their hands. Studying was just the absolute worse…

Sakura sighed as she closed her book. It was getting late. They had spent most of the morning and afternoon studying. Best not to overdo it.

She relented with a small nod. "Just be sure to come back for more studying tomorrow after training."

"Tomorrow?!" The blonde almost fell out of his seat.

"You think one day of studying is enough?" Sasuke shook his head. "We need a lot more than just _one_ day of studying." He side-eyed Naruto. "Especially for you."

"Teme…"

Sakura huffed. "Come on you two… No fighting in the library." She pushed two notebooks towards them. "I made up some notes for you."

Naruto brightened and eagerly took the notebook. "You did? Awesome!"

Sakura was the best. She had made some notes _especially_ for him!

Sasuke, however, looked a bit apprehensive as he accepted the notebook. "What's this for exactly?"

The pink-haired kunoichi blushed a little. "I just covered some of the areas I know you're both weak in. I thought it might help as we keep studying over the next couple of days."

The Uchiha snorted and handed the notebook back. "Tch… I don't have weaknesses."

"I'm sure it'll help a bunch! Now, how about we all get some dinner? I'm starving!"

Sakura forced back a sigh. She needed to remind herself that Naruto hadn't half so bad that day. He had really tried to study and focus on reading the books she had given him. While it was no secret that he hated studying, for once, he seemed to be wanting to try hard. It was quite admirable.

"Dinner sounds great." She glanced at the Uchiha. His rejection of her notes hurt… but that didn't mean she was going to leave him out of this. She just had to keep trying, right? "You want to join us?"

Sasuke shrugged as he packed up a few books he wanted to take home with him. "Why not?"

Even though the Uchiha had been accepting their invites to hang out over the past couple of months, it still surprised Sakura when he did. She was curious as to what made him change, but she wasn't about to pry. What if he went back to refusing to hang out? She did not want that at all, so her Inner Sakura needed to just let go of that curiosity.

"Let's go to Ichiraku!" Naruto called out cheerfully—much to the librarian's annoyance…

His teammates made faces behind his back, but hey, they were hungry and ramen wasn't too expensive. So off to Ichiraku Ramen it was.

The two boys were discussing some ninjutsu they wanted to try while Sakura lingered behind them. It was nice to see them getting along so well. She still had a hard time believing that her two teammates could get along so well. During their shadow cloning training, she was always worried that they'd explode and start a fight with no Kakashi-sensei to prevent them from killing each other. But the two seemed to be at ease with each other. Sasuke was still aloof and a bit rude as always, but he was more open to spending time with his teammates and friends. Naruto had calmed down a bit and seemed well, kinda cute if Sakura admitted.

That worried her a little. She had always— _always—_ liked Sasuke, ever since she first entered the Academy. But now… with all these changes since they had graduated, she found herself noticing Naruto in ways she never had before. These sorts of feelings made her nervous. She liked Sasuke, didn't she?

But then again, she hadn't really known Naruto and Sasuke that well in their Academy days. It wasn't until they had been on a team together that she really got to know both boys. Sasuke was still cool and aloof as he was at the Academy, but she noticed that he really could care less about girls—not that it had deterred her… but it did make her realize he wasn't all like what she had imagined him to be.

And Naruto? He was a goofball and as annoying as ever. But there was something she admired about him. He had a determination to get through things no matter the obstacle. So… why was that making her suddenly feel different about her two teammates?

"Sakura-chan!"

The kunoichi was pulled out of her musings by a familiar voice calling out behind her.

"Oh! Emiko-san," she greeted as she spotted the older kunoichi.

"Eh, Emiko-san?" Naruto turned around, smiling brightly as he saw the female Uchiha and their sensei heading their way.

Sasuke had turned around as well. He wasn't smiling like the blonde, but he did seem interested to have their trio joined by his fellow Uchiha and Kakashi.

"I was looking all over for you three," the female Uchiha explained. "Hatake-san joined me."

"We were just headed to get some ramen! You want to join us?" Naruto looked at the older two hopefully. After all, the more the merrier!

Emiko glanced at Kakashi, but as usual, he had his nose stuck in that little orange book of his—she was really going to find out why he liked that book so much and what in the world it was about.

"Sure, we'd love to!"

The three genin lead the way, chatting happily. It was a cute sight to Emiko. While she hadn't known much of what they had been like before she'd became a side member of the team, from the what she had seen from Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi's memories… they had been rarely this chatty or happy when together. Whether it was from her words or not, it made her heart swell to know that they were getting along so well.

She glanced over at their jōnin sensei. Did he notice the change? Or, was he just choosing to ignore it like he did everything else? She probably could figure him out if she just let herself… but that was a line she just didn't want to cross. She already knew too much as it was. There was no need to delve more into who Kakashi was. No matter how curious she wasn't going to—

What was that? Something white had caught her eye. She barely managed to catch sight of the white-haired figure. He was being quite sneaky… and it looked as if he was heading towards the back of that bathing house. And wait, wasn't that the women's side?!

She turned sharply on her heels to investigate. Surely it was a mistake… but for the dignity of all women, she was going to make sure!

The jōnin beside her paused and looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow. _"Now, where is she going?"_

Emiko made a quick dash in the direction of the alleged peeper. She might be a step behind, but if he _was_ planning on doing any spying, she'd find him!

"It's not nice to be snooping outside the ladies' bath."

Jiraiya had not been prepared to be caught. But when was he ever prepared for such a thing? He was the great Toad Sage! He was uncatchable when he was on a mission of peep—researching!

But come to think of it… this young lady. He struck a thoughtful pose. While he might not frequent Konoha often, he was pretty sure he had never seen this kunoichi before.

The purple-haired girl frowned at him. "It's not nice to stare either."

Had he been staring? Perhaps, not that it mattered. He was getting ideas for his next book! This would do very well. Yes, yes.

He grinned proudly. "Let me introduce myself! I am Jiraiya! The Great Toad Sage of Konoha!"

Emiko gave the man a blank look. The name meant nothing to her... She glanced back at Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 who had just joined her. "Am I supposed to know who this ojii-san is?" She thumbed at the white-haired man behind her.

Jiraiya visibly deflated at her blunt words. Team 7, on the other hand, looked like they were just as surprised. How could she _not_ know Jiraiya? But then again… she hadn't exactly been here for that long and well, it wasn't like everyone recognized him right off the bad—* _cough, cough*_ Naruto had made their first meeting with the Toad Sage rather awkward.

Kakashi would rather forget it to be honest. No, _all_ of Team 7 wanted to forget that meeting. Naruto had made a mess of things with the Toad Sage when Kakashi had just been trying to get the team some lessons on summoning. Calling Jiraiya a pervert and old man had really not been the best way to start things…

But anyways, they actually should have realized that Emiko knew very little about the history and people of Konoha. It was just that she had picked up on other stuff rather quickly. She certainly a fast learner, and well, her past memories of Konoha had been starting to resurface little by little. There was something about the air of Konoha that seemed to be bringing back old memories and habits—though it would be _nice_ if her memories of ninjutsu and such would come along a little faster… then again maybe she didn't have any?

"Ah… he's one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha," Sakura explained.

"And one of the biggest perverts ever," Naruto muttered before getting sharply thwapped by Sakura.

"What Naruto meant was he's one of the biggest _writers_ ever in Konoha." The pink-haired kunoichi shot a warning look to the boys.

Had they forgotten their promise already?! Emiko was never _ever_ to find out about certain people and their pervert tendencies and especially the truth behind Kakashi's _Icha Icha_! She was completely naïve about it… and Sakura wanted to keep it that way. And at the time, it seemed Naruto and Sasuke had wanted the same thing. Now, she wasn't so sure.

Emiko's eyes were sparkling—something the others had never seen her (or her eyes for that matter) do before—as she turned to look up at the Toad Sage. "You're a writer?" she gasped in awe.

Jiraiya had the decency to look humble. "Indeed. Perhaps you have heard of my works? I recently published another book in my—"

"Aaaaaah!" Naruto interrupted, grabbing Jiraiya's arm. "Don't ya want to try that new restaurant that just opened?"

Taking Naruto's cue, Sasuke grabbed his other arm. "Yes, the food is quite good." He grimaced as he forced a cheery smile—though, it looked more like a scowl to Sakura. "The waitresses are quite…" No, he couldn't say it, but that was more enough for Jiraiya to be interested in the place.

"May I join you?" Emiko looked at the two boys desperately, not noticing the worried glances they were shooting at each other. "I would like to hear more about Jiraiya-san's writing!"

The boys turned to Sakura as a last resort (they knew Kakashi-sensei was _not_ going to be of any help…).

The kunoichi sighed. Why did _she_ always have to be the one to get the two out of trouble? She sent an annoyed look at her sensei who merely crinkled his eye happily. Yep, he wasn't going to take any responsibility either. So much for all of them eating ramen together… There was going to have to be a major change of plans.

"Actually, Emiko-san, I just remembered I wanted your help with something!"

The female Uchiha looked disappointed and looked longingly back at the boys, but they were already hurrying away with the Toad Sage—though, it actually looked more like they were _dragging_ him away. Kakashi was also heading off with them… and she had really _really_ wanted to know more about Jiraiya-san and his writing.

However, Sakura had given her such a pleading look. She couldn't say 'no.' Maybe some other time she could talk to the Toad Sage?

* * *

"That was close!"

"Too close! How could you forget that promise?" Sasuke scolded with an irritated look.

"It just came out!" Naruto defended himself. "You know what a pervert—"

"Ahem?"

The blonde gave Jiraiya a sheepish look. He had momentarily forgotten that the Toad Sage was still with them.

"Are you two going to stand around here or are we going to that restaurant you were talking about?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "We'll go, but you better be paying. It's too much for us to pay."

"Then why'd you suggest it?"

" _I_ didn't. The baka over here did."

"Teme!" Naruto hissed. "We had to keep the Ero-sannin from mentioning _Icha Icha_ in front of Emiko-san!"

"Emiko?"

The two genin blinked. They had forgotten that the Toad Sage wouldn't know their new teammate. He had been out and about as usual, traveling to find new ideas for his books—well, that and doing some side missions and research for the Hokage.

"Ahhhh, Emiko-san, she's…. Emiko-san is well—"

"She's an Uchiha that is training under me," Kakashi interrupted, closing his book.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "An Uchiha you say?"

The jōnin nodded. "We can talk more inside."

He gently nudged his two genin to the side as he and the Toad Sage led the way to the new restaurant. Best to keep those two distracted while he talked more privately with Jiraiya-san—okay, okay, maybe he also wanted to get his _Icha Icha_ autographed, but really, he did need to talk to the Toad Sage about a few things regarding his newest charge.

* * *

Sakura felt bad for dampening Emiko's spirits a bit the previous night. But really, she did not want the female Uchiha ruined by the Toad Sage's * _ahem*_ certain hobbies and interests. It was bad enough with Kakashi reading _Icha Icha_ in public… She could tell that Emiko was very curious about the book, but she couldn't let her know! It was much better if she never knew, but it was only a matter of time… she could find out if Sakura and the rest of Team 7 didn't stay on guard.

The pink-haired kunoichi sighed. She just hoped her two teammates didn't cause any trouble with Jiraiya-san. And _hopefully_ , both would have their heads on and _not_ say a word about the Toad Sage to Emiko at training.

"Yo, Sakura!" Naruto greeted cheerfully. Sasuke was not far behind, looking as stoic and sulky as ever.

"Good morning," she greeted somewhat cautiously as she eyed her teammates.

"What's with that look?"

Sakura blushed and looked away from the Uchiha. "N-nothing!"

"Tch… right. It's about last night, isn't it?"

"Something like that," she admitted.

"What about last night?" Naruto butted in curiously.

Sakura sent the blonde an exasperated look. "You know exactly what…"

The Uzumaki grinned sheepishly. "I'm really sorry. It just slipped… Besides," he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Sasuke already chewed my ear off about it."

"Did not," Sasuke grumbled under his breath.

Sakura pursed her lips. "Well, as long as you _both_ remember not to mention it again—"

"Mention what again?"

The three genin reluctantly turned around to face the older kunoichi.

"Oh… hi, Emiko-san."

She cocked her head to the side curiously. "What are you three whispering about?"

"We, we weren't whispering, dattebayo!"

Emiko rolled her eyes. "Sure you weren't…" She brightened. "Did you have a nice dinner with Jiraiya-san?"

Naruto and Sasuke swallowed nervously. "Ah well…"

"Emiko-san!" Sakura interrupted. "Since you're here, you can help me again with my taijutsu form!"

Not letting the female Uchiha get a word in edgewise, the younger genin grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the two boys. But not before sending them a warning look. They better not slip up the rest of the day! Oh, and did she mention that they owed her one?

For the first time in a long time… Naruto and Sasuke were very _very_ eager for their jōnin sensei to appear.

* * *

Today's training was… surprising light. Kakashi was suddenly going easy on everyone. He wasn't scolding as much, and he wasn't making them practice rigorously like usual. Or maybe it was just Emiko's imagination?

"That's enough for today," the jōnin called out—much earlier than normal too.

Yeah, there was something going on. And just as she was about to gather with the other three, Kakashi motioned for her to stay to the side.

"I need to talk to these three alone," he explained.

Much to her annoyance… but then again, she was _really_ a part of Team 7, now was she? She had no right to be offended. She wasn't one of them. At least, not yet. She could be if she kept working hard and become the best kunoichi she could be. And maybe, just maybe, she'd find her place in Konoha.

But for the moment, she was still the outsider. Watching and waiting for a chance, for a role to play.

"Emiko-san?"

The Uchiha blinked in surprised. She hadn't realized that she had zoned out there for a moment. She glanced behind the blonde, frowning a bit as she realized the others must have left while she had her head in the clouds…

"Um Kakashi-sensei had something he had to do, so he asked me to take you home or lunch or whatever," Naruto explained a bit bashfully. "Sakura had to head home to do something with her mom, and Sasuke wanted to study at the library."

"Oh…" She tried not to sound too disappointed. After all, Kakashi wasn't obligated to babysit her all the time. She was eighteen. Very capable of looking after herself. "Lunch would be nice."

The Uzumaki brightened. "Ramen?"

The female Uchiha chuckled. "Ramen would be great."

Naruto grinned as the two headed towards the village. To be honest… Sasuke and Sakura probably would have joined them, but Naruto insisted that he wanted to make it up to Emiko for what had happened the previous day. He begged for the chance—much to Kakashi's amusement—and the Uchiha had relented only because he couldn't stand the blonde's obnoxious begging for another moment. Sakura agreed as long as Naruto did notforget about their studying session later that day.

When they had entered the little shop, and the blonde eagerly ordered a bowl of his favorite ramen. Emiko hadn't been there very often, but she had found a bowl she enjoyed despite not being a huge fan of ramen.

It was nice. The atmosphere was quite pleasant, even it was just the two of them there at the moment. Though, Naruto sure was inhaling that ramen at an unnatural rate… She had barely started eating, and he was already on his second bowl! Or maybe she was a slower eater than she realized? Come to think of it, she hadn't really eaten much with the others. She might just be slow at eating…

Behind them, there was a rustle of the curtain. Another customer apparently. Though, instead of sitting a couple of seats away, the person took a seat right beside Emiko.

"Emiko-chan, right?"

The female Uchiha almost choked on her noodles. "Ah!" She quickly wiped her face and faced the newcomer. "Yes, that is correct."

Beside her was a young woman (probably roughly Kakashi's age?). She had reddish colored eyes and dark brown hair. The hitai-ate around her head showed that she was a kunoichi like Emiko, though most definitely higher ranked.

"Oh! Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto greeted from over his third bowl. "What bringth you here?" he asked as he slurped his noodles.

Kurenai ignored the blonde and ordered a bowl of ramen for herself. Her attention was on the Uchiha—was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"Ah, where are my manners? I'm Yūhi Kurenai. I lead Team 8."

Emiko eyed her somewhat warily. "Uchiha Emiko. I'm sorta… with Team 7?"

The kunoichi chuckled softly. "So I've heard. Kakashi asked me to keep you company."

"Hey! I'm keeping her company," Naruto protested.

Kurenai glanced over at the blonde. "I believe you have a study session with your teammates?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"No 'buts.' I'll take care of Emiko-chan."

Naruto made a face, but he knew better than to argue with the jōnin—not with that look on her face. Besides, he didn't want to make his teammates wait, so he paid his tab and reluctantly left his older teammate behind at the ramen shop.

* * *

Lunch had ended rather quietly. Emiko had finished off her bowl just as Kurenai finished hers—she really must be a slow eater after all…

They paid and left the shop to take a long walk around the village. Apparently, Kurenai was very serious about taking care of her. That, and she seemed to want to talk.

Emiko was okay with that. No offense to Sakura, but it would be kind of nice to talk to someone who was older yet close to her age.

"So… How much do you know about Kakashi?"

The Uchiha blinked. If this wasn't a déjà vu, she didn't know what was…

She just shrugged. "Hatake-san doesn't really talk about himself."

Well, that and didn't feel like asking him about himself since she technically _did_ know a lot about him.

Kurenai pursed her lips slightly. "I thought as much…" She shook her head slightly. "Well, I assume you're curious about his sharingan?"

Emiko hoped the jōnin didn't notice her blushing cheeks as she cleared her throat. "Ummm not really. I didn't think it was ummm important."

The older kunoichi raised an eyebrow, studying the Uchiha with a somewhat critical eye that made her squirm ever so slightly.

"You're not even a little curious? Kakashi isn't related to the Uchiha clan at all, you know."

She shrugged again, trying to appear uninterested. After all, she actually _did_ know a little of why—some things were a little fuzzy since there were certain aspects of _this_ world she didn't quite understand. She had sort of 'seen' it all. And well, she didn't really want to remember things that were very private to Kakashi… that and she didn't want to _feel_ all that over again.

"If Hatake-san wants me to—"

Kurenai cut her off. "Emiko-chan, really. There are somethings you ought to know, and Kakashi won't say anything. He's just like that."

"But that's private information," Emiko protested. Though, she really couldn't completely deny her curiosity. There were a few details she'd like to hear from the jōnin and not dig up from her—Kakashi's?—memories. Some things just weren't making sense to her… but it wasn't right to ask was it? She was torn between curiosity and privacy.

It seemed as if the jōnin was going to make the decision for her. Kurenai was very determined to give Emiko information whether she liked it or not.

And somehow, _hearing_ it was almost was worse than just replaying those memories. At least with memories, she could kind of pick and choose what to study. But listening meant she couldn't block out anything! She'd have to hear every little detail… and hope she didn't get sick. Well, on the bright side, at least she wouldn't be _feeling_ anything. She didn't think she could stomach that.

And speaking of stomachs… her lunch didn't seem to be agreeing with her anymore. Emiko swallowed nervously, trying to school her expression to a calm, listening sort of look as Kurenai came to the most gruesome part of the story—the perks of already knowing this sort of… it meant that she could brace herself for it.

It took all of her not to plug her ears as the jōnin explained the surgical process of moving the sharingan from Obito to Kakashi. While _that_ had been an area Emiko had been confused on, she really really wished she hadn't let Kurenai tell her that. The phrase "ignorance is bliss" never rang more true.

How could Kurenai discuss this all so casually? Here Emiko was trying not to throw up, and the jōnin was talking about an eye donation without even batting an eyelash! Was this something normal around here? If so… the female Uchiha didn't know how she could feel even more sick.

After all, _she_ had sharingan. What did that mean? No, no, _no_. She was _not_ going to ask. Ignorance is bliss! Ignorance is bliss…

She forced herself to stay calm as the jōnin finished her tale. "So… you're saying that Rin… surgically transferred Obito-san's sharingan to Kakashi?"

Kurenai nodded slowly. It seemed as if she was expecting some sort of reaction from her, judging by the curious look she was giving that is.

"You… think it was wrong?" She glanced at her, still seeming a bit cautious and expecting.

"Wrong?" Emiko blinked in surprise. After all, that wasn't exactly a question she had been expecting.

The jōnin shrugged. "Not all of the Uchiha were exactly happy with the idea of someone wielding something that only Uchiha are supposed to have."

"That's stupid," she scoffed. "Obito-san willingly gave it, and Hatake-san needed an eye. It's not like he stole it or anything."

Not like people could just steal eyeballs… this whole concept of giving away a sharingan was still very much on the creepy side, but she didn't necessarily think there was a problem. It was more like the mental picture it gave her that really bothered her.

Kurenai gave her another curious look but seemed content with her answer. There were other things the kunoichi needed to discuss with the Uchiha.

"Are you familiar with his time with the ANBU?"

Emiko had to think hard on that one. The word sounded vaguely familiar… She probably knew something about his time there, but she couldn't honestly say that for a variety of reasons. And well, it wasn't like she really knew what exactly the jōnin was referring to.

All she could really do was just shrug in answer.

And now Kurenai was looking serious. Like real serious. She had been quite solemn when discussing the origins of Kakashi's sharingan… but this was a whole new level of seriousness.

"He was once known as 'Friend Killer.'"

* * *

The next couple of days were rather quiet. The three genin were almost always heading straight to the library as soon as Kakashi had dismissed them from training. While Emiko was focused on trying to have a more serious conversation with the jōnin. She _had_ tried—very timidly thanks to Kurenai—to ask the jōnin about a few things about his past, but he was as elusive as ever. She rarely saw him these days outside of their rare D-ranked missions and training. He seemed a bit preoccupied. She half-wondered if he knew about Kurenai telling her all about his past… It made her feel more guilty than she already did about knowing so much about him. Why had she let Kurenai tell her all that?! Private things should remain private!

So… asking him directly had been her plan. _Had_ being the key word. Kakashi was not making it easy to approach him about talking or asking anything! And all she had wanted to do was reach out and heal his soul…

Kakashi just seemed really distant lately and so distracted? Busy? No, no, scratch that, _everyone_ seemed a bit busy with something else. Kurenai had to apologize on cancelling their little shopping trip plans that she had 'forcefully' gotten Emiko to agree to the previous day… Not to mention the other genin teams were all very busy training, yes, but there was just _something_ that they were up to. And she was completely out of the loop. She had no idea what in the world was going on with everyone. It was times like this that she wondered if she even belonged in Konoha.

"All right, you are all dismissed."

Emiko resisted huffing. This new routine was grating on her ever so slightly.

"Remember, you three," Kakashi nodded at Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. "We will meet at the Academy in the morning."

"The Academy?"

The jōnin glanced over at the female Uchiha. "For the first stage of the Chūnin Exams."

She stared hard at Kakashi. "The Chūnin Exams…" Well _that_ explained a lot, but wait—"The Chūnin Exams?! And no one told me?"

"You didn't tell Emiko-san?!"

The three genin seemed surprised as well. At least that meant she wasn't the only one totally out of the loop (small favors…).

"Maaaa…" Kakashi waved them off lazily. "I thought I had mentioned it in passing."

Emiko narrowed her eyes. She was pretty sure the Hatake wouldn't forget to mention such a thing. He had purposefully glossed over it!

"You ought to have made sure," Sakura scolded. "Now she'll have to cram study before the test tomorrow!"

Cram study? Now that didn't sound like much fun…

"Ah actually, Emiko-chan here won't be taking the exams this year."

"Whaaaaaa?!" Naruto gaped at his sensei. "She isn't?!"

"Maaa, she doesn't exactly have a team to—"

"Emiko-san doesn't have a team to take the exams with?!"

* * *

_The next day…_

With today being the first day of the Chūnin Exams, Emiko didn't really have much to do. While it wasn't fun to be by herself, she was very glad that she wouldn't be participating in the exams. She just shuddered at the thought of having to do all that cram studying… Kakashi had decided she wasn't ready (which she wholeheartedly agreed with especially since _somebody_ didn't have the decency to tell her when they were to begin with!).

Since she wasn't taking part in the exams, so she couldn't be with the teens. And since Kakashi was a sensei, he was staying with the other sensei to watch their students. She wasn't allowed there since she would be eventually taking the exams herself and could have an unfair advantage if she stayed with the sensei.

So what was she to do? Sitting alone at the park wasn't really much fun… Training was her only other option—she didn't exactly know anyone outside Team 7, not to mention most of the people she _did_ know were all at the exams anyways… There really wasn't anything better to do. Training should keep her distracted or something like that.

"Ugh…" Emiko flopped down on the grass in frustration.

She had been training for what felt like hours and still felt like she wasn't making much progress. Her skills were increasing, yes, but there was still so much to learn! Taijutsu? It had been improving, but her hits were still a bit on the weak side (Sakura was much stronger in that area). She didn't really want to think about her ninjutsu…

"I'm hopeless!" she grumbled before focusing on the clouds above her.

She still just couldn't quite grasp how to use her sharingan… Kakashi and Sasuke always made it seem so simple. She had watched them carefully and mimicked them the best she could. But it just wasn't enough! She improved in ninjutsu, yes, but she still couldn't copy any when watching them with her sharingan. Like, she could copy to some extent but nothing close to the level of Kakashi and Sasuke. No, she wasn't copying, she was… imitating? Mimicking? No, none of those words were right. She was just following instructions is what it felt like. Not to mention she couldn't see chakra with her sharingan. At least not in the same way the others said. She could only seem to sense (see? feel?) chakra that was unstable.

It was like she had to relearn how to use her sharingan. She frowned, no longer really focusing on the clouds and their strange shapes. She wondered… could it be maybe because of that? No, it couldn't. Could it?

It wasn't exactly something she wanted to ask Kakashi about. It would lead to that… and she absolutely did _not_ want him knowing about it. Sasuke wasn't really an option either. She'd just have to figure it out herself.

Maybe there were two sides to the sharingan? Since she was a girl, maybe she just gravitated more to the emotional side of the sharingan or something like that. It would probably help if she'd just ask, but it was just embarrassing… If they brought it up first, she would feel better about it, but they hadn't.

So she just had to figure it out that side on her own. Right now, she needed to focus on the other side of her sharingan: copying.

She sighed and pulled herself onto her feet. Inhaling once, she narrowed her eyes at the training dummy in front of her. She was going to figure this out! She had to… they were counting on her entering the Chūnin Exams next year.

But, attacking the training dummy really wasn't going to get her anywhere. She needed to look at this from a different angle… maybe the library?

* * *

Naruto stared at his test paper. These questions…

He didn't know any of the answers!

Sakura was going to kill him for sure… They had all studied so _hard_ for this, and he was about to mess it up for the whole team.

All the questions were totally areas that Sakura had managed to briefly cover in their studies. He was almost positive there had been a note somewhere on question #6. And there was even a crazy question about the distance and direction of a thrown shuriken—maybe he shouldn't have scoffed at the concept.

He _should_ know all these answers. Or at least know some of them… Sakura had been constantly drilling him and Sasuke over the past couple of weeks. She had even taken the extra time to tutor him when he was having trouble with the notes she had given him. And of all things, his mind had to go completely _blank_ the day of the written test. His knuckles were going white from gripping his pencil so tightly. Sakura and Sasuke were going to kill him for sure.

As much as he'd rather _not_ admit it, even the Uchiha was having trouble with the test. He grudgingly admitted that he probably should have taken Sakura's studying a little more seriously. He really didn't think the questions would be _that_ difficult… but they were, so he needed to figure out something fast. Time was passing quickly. He didn't want to fail the team, but he really wasn't too sure of most of the answers.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Akamaru shifting a bit on Kiba's head. He wondered… A chūnin proctor was passing by, so he focused on the test paper in front of him. Once the proctor had passed, he smirked, activating his sharingan. He'd just copy someone else and get the answers that way.

The occasional * _scritch scratch*_ of pencils around him was enough to make Naruto go mad! Was he the only one who didn't know the answers?

Naruto snuck a peek at the Hyūga sitting beside him. Hinata's brows were furrowed in concentration as she worked her way through the test. She had seemed nervous ever since the test started… but even she seemed to know how to push through the questions. He was half tempted to look at her answers, but that wasn't right! He wasn't a cheater, and there was no way he was going to get his team in trouble. He barely managed to glance at Hinata before a chūnin proctor passed by (that was close!). He'd just have to reach deep into the recesses of his mind and just maybe he'd—

"It's time to answer the tenth and final question."

The blonde swung up his head to look at Morino Ibiki in surprise. He hadn't even attempted to answer the other nine yet! Why were they suddenly talking about the last question?! How long had it been since the test started?

"But before you attempt answering it, there is one special rule," the jōnin warned.

All eyes were on the proctor.

"You can choose to answer this final question, or you can opt out. However," he paused, glancing over the nervous genin. "If you decide to pass this question, your _entire_ team will fail."

Beside Naruto, Hinata barely managed to hold back a gasp. The stakes were a lot higher than they all had originally thought…

"But, if you do choose to answer but get the answer wrong, you will be forever banned from ever participating in the exams again."

There was a faint murmur across the classroom. This was supposed to be a simple written test! Why were the stakes so high this year? Was it really worth it to risk everything on that tenth and final question?

All around Naruto, he could hear the sounds of feet shuffling. It sounded like people would rather fail and wait until next year to retake the exam… _Another_ year? Were they joking?

He didn't want to wait another year! But, if he got this answer wrong, his whole team… What was he supposed to do?!

All throughout the test, Sakura had found herself glancing up every so often to check on Naruto. She was worried about him. The test questions were a lot harder than even she had expected. If they were hard for her, she couldn't imagine how hard they might be for Naruto.

And now with this tenth question, she could tell he was going crazy. He had almost snapped his pencil in half several times… She had to do something!

It would be hard to wait another year, but she couldn't let her team face the possibility of never being able to take the exams again. She clenched her eyes tightly and slowly moved to raise her hand.

"Are you kidding me?!"

The pink-haired kunoichi opened her eyes in surprise. "Na-Naruto?!"

Naruto had stood up with his fists clenched tightly against his side to face the jōnin instructor. "I'm not gonna let this test stop me from following my ninja way. Even if I'm stuck as a genin forever, I'm going to become Hokage one day, believe it!"

* * *

Back at the library, Emiko had found quite the collection of books to read. Her main focus was looking up information and history books, but she couldn't resist pulling a few fiction books from off the shelves. She had practically the whole day to read as she pleased with the others being busy with the Chūnin Exams. Sure, the test would only take an hour, but afterwards, they probably all wanted to just head home. Written tests could be draining after all.

She had found a nice quite corner to do her reading. After setting down her books, she settled in, selecting one of the books on chakra usage. That one sounded the most useful at the moment. Maybe it had something about seeing chakra…

Being a fast reader made it easier to go through her rather large stack of books in no time. Though, she might have overdone it a little… Quite some time had passed since she first entered the library, and well, she was getting a little hungry. She'd better head out.

She kept the fictional books to read later and put the other books away. After a quick chat with the librarian, she had checked out her two fiction books and headed out for something to eat.

The library seriously had a wealth of information. While there wasn't really a lot of information on her family, she had learned so much in one trip! But she might have overdone it a little… Her brain was still trying to catch up with all the information she had read. And with that came a headache of memories.

* * *

_Flashback_

"Onii-saaaaaan, pwease!" she begged, tugging at his pant leg.

Her brother glanced down at her, pursing his lips as she continued to tug at his pants. "You're too young, Miko."

Emiko gave him her best pouty face. "But onii-san, I got my sharingam."

He shook her head with a small smile. "I know, I know, but you're still too little."

"I'm big now! I turn four soon." She held up her four fingers up proudly. "So Miko is not little anymore."

Her brother chuckled as he squatted down beside her. "Okay, okay, you're a big girl now." He ruffled her hair. "But I don't think you're ready just yet, Miko."

She huffed, puffing out her cheeks. "Miko is ready," she insisted. "Pwease?"

He sighed. She could be so troublesome at times, and she was quite determined when she put her mind to it. He wasn't sure if he could handle the constant begging—she had been going at it for several days now…

"All right… we'll start training tomorrow."

His sister brightened then flung her little arms around his neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, onii-san! Miko will work very very hard!" she promised.

He just smiled and gave her a tight squeeze. She squirmed a bit but was beaming happily up at him.

"Miko is gonna tell Okaa-san!" she declared before running off.

Her brother shook his head, sighing softly. Their mother wasn't going to be thrilled with that… While he had started training roughly around three or four, their mother had been very firm on _not_ letting Emiko start that early. But it would be okay. It wasn't like he was going to do any heavy training with her. She was far too young for anything serious. But really, he had started training around her age. Doing very light training under his father's supervision. What harm could it do to let Emiko start?

Perhaps it was that she was the baby of family? He could admit he could understand his mother on that aspect. But Emiko was so persistent on learning! She was absolutely determined to start. Odd, since she never had seemed interested before. It all changed when she activated her sharingan. That was when she started asking about training and specifically by him. She hadn't asked their father… Well, he'd figure that out later. In the meantime, he needed to think about how the training would go.

He figured that he'd just balance it out with a little—very little—chakra control and maybe some easy but very light taijutsu, and if he felt she was doing well enough, maybe a little ninjutsu as well. He seriously doubted she would get that far along… so why worry too much about it?

* * *

They had begun the day with a bit of light training. Emiko's brother had shown her a few taijutsu stances and taught her how to hold her fists for a punch. Very simple things much to her annoyance. After waiting patiently (or perhaps not so patiently), Emiko finally got her brother to show her his sharingan.

She loved how it looked. The red color and swirling tomoes… but hers? She frowned a little and rubbed her eyes a bit. She had caught their reflection once. They weren't red like her big brother's. Instead, they were a magenta color, and her tomoe was flipped! She didn't understand why hers looked so different.

"With your sharingan, you should be able to see my chakra," her brother was explaining.

"See chakra?"

"Mhmmm… your vision might be a little red too."

Emiko made a face. "Wed? But Miko doesn't see wed… or chakra."

"It's an Uchiha thing," he teased his sister as he ruffled her hair.

Emiko huffed. "But Miko is an Uchiha too! Why can't Miko do it?"

Her brother pursed his lips slightly. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure why Emiko couldn't see it. Perhaps she was just too young? Or maybe… there was something more to her sharingan than they thought?

"Miko wants to see it too," his sister grumbled.

Her brother cocked his head to the side. "What do you see?"

Emiko blinked slowly as she looked up at her brother. Her sharingan was spinning slowly as she stared up into his own sharingan.

"Miko sees…" Her brows furrowed for a moment before she broke out into a wide grin. "Onii-san twipped. He twipped over Minato-san." She eyed her brother mischievously—her sharingan had deactivated. "You twipped over the future Hokage!"

"Wh-what… How…?" Her brother swore nobody had seen that! So how in Konoha had his sister heard—no, seen!—that?

"Onii-san asked what Miko saw!" the younger Uchiha pouted. "And Miko saw onii-san twipping over Minato-san." She glared at her brother then added. "Onii-san's has been grumpy all week from em-embawassment."

Her brother stared at her with mix of awe and concern. How in the world…

"You… _saw_ me tripping over Minato-san?" he asked slowly.

Emiko gave him an annoyed look. "Onii-san doesn't believe Miko! Why Miko lie? Miko doesn't lie." She stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Miko told onii-san exactly what Miko saw."

He gave his sister an apologetic look. "No, I believe you, Miko." He patted her head, but she was still giving him a stink eye. "I'm really sorry!"

His sister side-eyed him, obviously not buying his apology.

"I'll buy you some dango after practice?"

"Dango?" Her eyes lit up. "Pwomise?"

He smiled and held out his pinky. "Promise."

His sister grinned as their pinkies intertwined. "Onii-san pwomised, so onii-san _must_ buy Miko dango!"

Her brother chuckled and patted her head. "I know. I promised after all."

Emiko was rather happy for the rest of their training. Though, her brother wasn't as chipper. And no, it wasn't because of the fact that his little sister somehow knew about his little incident with Minato-san. It was something else.

As he watched his sister get used to her sharingan and train alongside him… he noticed something about her. Something he wasn't sure he wanted to admit.

* * *

Prodigy. He was almost positive that his sister was a prodigy. She was picking up everything way too fast for an ordinary three-year-old… and she was extremely determined to learn more. What on _earth_ had he gotten himself into?!

He didn't know what to do. Of course he _wanted_ to teach Emiko more. She was a fast learner and just held onto his every word—but that could be because he was her older brother. However, he couldn't just let her handle a kunai—their mother would have his hide! There were wooden ones and little toy versions of ninja weapons, but she was still young in their mother's opinion. And honestly, he didn't really want to see such things in his baby sister's hands… not with all that was going on with the Third Shinobi War. She was too young to know about such things as their mother would say. What was he to do though?

She already _knew_. He couldn't quite grasp how, but she just did. It wasn't like he could ask her directly about it. Emiko was still a child for crying out loud! But… from what she _could_ tell him told him a little of what he wanted to know. A very little, but he was getting somewhere!

Her sharingan. It was different. Unlike any sharingan in the entire Uchiha Clan to his knowledge. And what it did—at least what he thought it did—was what spurred his little sister to want to train.

Love.

It was strange, but that was the only thing that could explain it. Her love for him had awakened something in her. A desire to help. A desire to protect. A desire to _understand_.

And she was only three…

He slumped onto a park bench. He had been meandering through the park after sending Emiko home with her dango, overthinking things probably… He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Something wrong?"

The Uchiha looked up in surprise. He had been so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed that anyone was around. The park had been pretty empty when he had first gotten there.

"Oyahjii…"

His father sat down on the bench beside him. "You missed dinner."

He blinked in surprise. Had he really been lost in thought for that long? It only seemed like he had sent Emiko home a couple of minutes ago…

"I, I lost track of time. There's just a lot on my mind."

His father raised an eyebrow.

"It's about Emiko," he admitted. "I'm sure you've noticed… She's, she's too good for one her age."

The older Uchiha nodded slowly. "She is certainly full of surprises."

"But what should I do, Oyahjii?" He stared down at his hands. "I can't keep training her in good conscience… she's too young to be thinking about starting at the Academy just yet."

"There have been exceptions you know."

The younger Uchiha made a face. "For prodigies you mean…" He frowned. "Do you think Emiko is a prodigy?"

He certainly felt that she was… but was he just being biased as her teacher and older brother? He felt that their father would have better judgment on the topic.

However, the older Uchiha remained silent.

"Oyahjii…?"

His father stood up abruptly. "Your mother will be worried. We should head home."

He frowned but got onto his feet as well. This, apparently, was more of a conversation to have at home.

" _Oh…"_ He stopped short.

There would be no time to have this conversation. If it was already this late… he ought to be sleeping already, for tomorrow, his team was going on an S-rank mission. This conversation would have to be postponed for longer than he would like…

_End Flashback_

* * *

Emiko brushed away the tears before they could fall.

" _Stupid memories…"_

But there was always a silver lining. She had finally grasped a better understanding of her sharingan. It was something Kakashi and Sasuke couldn't have been able to do. She clenched her fists in determination. There was some training to relearn.

She closed her eyes, concentrating hard on her memories… what her brother had said.

" _Focus, Miko. Your chakra needs to stay stable. Deep breaths. Now, open your eyes."_

She could feel the slight-magnetic pull as her sharingan activated.

" _Focus on your chakra. Can you see it? The chakra wrapped around you, around me?"_

Her eyes widened as a grin spread across her face.

The world around her… it was red! Well, her vision was like she had red-tinted glasses on, but anyways, it was like her brother had said! Red, it was all in red.

She could see so… clearly. Everyone around her moved at such a slow pace. The man to her left was going to brush against her, but she somehow just _knew_. She could _see_ that he would and just _moved_. It was as if… she could predict even the littlest of movements.

Looking down at her own hands… she could even see her own chakra in a way. The bluish pink chakra was wrapped around her body like some sort of shield or blanket? She was too fascinated by how it looked to really think about explaining it to herself.

She could feel and see it so clearly…She could see! She could finally _see_ it. It was different than before. It was just amazing… she could see it. She could really see it now! Just like Kakashi and Sasuke had said. She could see it the movements just like they could—and her brother too.

Naruto was still clenching his fists as he gazed up defiantly at the jōnin proctor. Around him, there was a soft murmuring. People who had been about to leave were now going back to their seats. Naruto's words had stirred something deep inside them. They couldn't give up just yet.

* * *

Sakura felt rather proud of her teammate. His words had given her a new confidence. If he wasn't going to give up, she wasn't either! _"Good for you, Naruto!"_

Ibiki stared hard at the blonde genin, but Naruto didn't drop his eyes. He was not afraid. He was determined!

The jōnin raised an eyebrow. "If you want to quit… now is your chance."**

The blonde genin shook his head. "I won't ever quit. This is my ninja way!"

Ibiki glanced across the classroom. There will still quite of few genin that had decided to stay after hearing this blonde kid's words. Impressive.

He looked over the class once more before letting his eyes rest back on Naruto.

"For those of you still here… you've all passed."

* * *

Not that they really expected their jōnin sensei to appear, but the three genin had decided to linger around the Academy a little longer just in case. After all, Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, and even Gai-sensei had shown up to see how their genin had faired on the first stage. Surely, Kakashi-sensei would appear too?

But knowing his habits…

"I better head home," Sakura admitted quietly. "My parents are probably worried about how we did."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah… Kakashi-sensei probably won't show up anyways." He kicked at stray pebble. "But we did good, huh?"

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. "That's a funny way to phrase it."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Sakura pursed her lips. "Now now… we passed the first stage. No need to get into a fight."

"I'm not fighting," Sasuke said coolly. "Just saying it's not really much of a ' _we_ did good.'"

Naruto clenched his fists, glaring a bit at his teammate.

The Uchiha didn't seemed bothered but the glare as he looked straight into Naruto's eyes. "If it weren't for you, I don't think this many teams would have passed."

"Wh-what…" the blonde stuttered. That certainly had not been what he thought Sasuke would say. He was thinking more along the lines of 'you didn't answer any of the questions!' or 'you made a fool of yourself.' Things like that…

"If it weren't for you," Sasuke glared at the pink-haired kunoichi. "Sakura would have taken us out of the exam and forced me— _us_ to wait another year."

Sakura blushed deeply, realizing that the Uchiha had read her actions form earlier…

"So, thanks," Sasuke muttered. "Even if you _were_ being a little selfish."

"Teme…" But Naruto was smiling. There was no bitterness in his voice this time.

As much as Sakura would have loved to stay, she really had to head home. She didn't want her parents getting worried over these exams.

"If Emiko-san stops by, please let her know I said hello!" she called out to the boys as she left the Academy. "Don't forget that we promised to eat out for dinner later since we passed!"

"Will do!" Naruto yelled cheerfully, waving goodbye.

"I wonder where she is…"

"Where who is?" The blonde turned back to his teammate.

"Emiko-san."

Naruto shrugged. "Could be anywhere. Probably enjoying time off since she doesn't have to worry about the exams."

"I don't see why she couldn't join us," Sasuke grumbled under his breath.

The blonde shrugged again. "Kakashi-sensei said she wasn't ready."

"No more than you, me, or even Sakura."

"Emiko-san didn't even have a team to take the exams with," Naruto pointed out.

The Uchiha stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm heading home…"

"Oh okay. See you at dinner!"

"Tch. Yeah, see you then." Sasuke gave Naruto a half-wave before running off, leaving the blonde alone in front of the Academy.

Without Sakura and Sasuke… he didn't really feel like waiting around for Kakashi-sensei. Instead, he'd see if maybe he could find Emiko-san. She might be over at the training grounds or the park. He had all the time in the world to look anyways.

And what would you know, he was lucky today. Emiko looked to be hard at practice. She was looking pretty good. Not that she was bad or anything, but even Naruto could tell that she wasn't quite confident in her abilities. But today? She had just a different aura about her somehow. There was something familiar about that aura… somehow, it was comforting?

"Emiko-san?"

The female Uchiha looked at the Uzumaki in surprise. Naruto couldn't deny that her sharingan always took his breath away. They were just so… different from Sasuke and Kakashi's.

"Oh, Naruto-kun!" she greeted, wiping away some sweat from her brow as she walked over to him. "Did your test go well?"

He grinned. "Yeah, we passed the first stage!"

Emiko cocked her head a bit. "First stage? How many stages are there in these exams?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think there's like a total of like four? I never paid too much attention about that," he admitted.

The Uchiha didn't seem to mind. She had deactivated her sharingan and was smiling. It seemed like she had had a good day. Though, there was something in her eyes. Naruto almost thought he could make out tear stains, but no, it was probably just sweat.

"You wanna train with me a little?" he offered.

After all, it wasn't that late. And well, he had been interested in sparring with Emiko once. Kakashi had never let him or Sasuke—or even Sakura!—spar with her. This was the perfect opportunity to try! Their jōnin sensei was nowhere in sight.

Emiko brightened. "Sure, if you don't mind."

It would be a great way to test out her understanding of her sharingan.

* * *

_An hour or so later…_

Well… this certainly had not been on the agenda for the day.

Emiko crouched down beside the teen boy and nudged him experimentally. "Naruto-kun?"

No reaction. This wasn't good. And she didn't even know what she exactly had done to knock the kid out! Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to help him with some training… it was too late for regrets now.

She poked the blonde's cheek. "Come on, Naruto-kun…. Wake up."

Still nothing…

Emiko was no doctor—or nurse or medical-nin for that matter. But she figured it wouldn't hurt to check his eyes just in case… Gingerly but gently, she peeled back his eyelid.

" _Still out cold."_ she thought grimly and was about to let go of Naruto's eyelid when her eye was suddenly drawn back to look straight at his vacant eye. Her brows furrowed at this action. What was her sharingan thinking?!

But before she could even try anything, she felt herself being pulled forward by some invisible force.

" _Not again!"_ she panicked. Was she being thrown back to the other world—er, Japan?

Though, this didn't feel quite like when she first got her… for she hadn't stumbled or been flung forward or anything. It was more like she had sunk down into something. It had happened as suddenly as that time but instead of finding herself somewhere similar to the training grounds, she was in vast nothingness?

"Where am I?" she thought aloud.

It was dark… but not completely dark. And beneath, her feet and hands were wet? She frowned as she pulled herself up to a standing position. She didn't remember being anywhere near a water source…

" **Well… if you aren't an interesting human."**

Emiko whirled around in surprise. "Who's there?" she demanded.

Or ad she just imagined that voice? She couldn't really see anything or anyone. This place was a little creepy… She didn't feel like she was alone in wherever this place was. There was faint trace of unstable chakra. No, it wasn't faint anymore. And it was a very _very_ strong chakra signature now that she could sense it clearly.

"Who's there?" she demanded again, shifting around to find any trace of anyone.

" **Behind you,"** the voice rumbled.

Emiko spun around but… there was nothing there? Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to somehow spot the owner of the voice.

Then suddenly… she saw it. A large reddish eye peering down at her with a judging look that made her take a step back. Taking that step helped her eyes focus on the rest of the voice's owner. Just judging by the eye, she knew it would be huge but she hadn't realized _how_ huge. And what was more surprising…

"You're… a fox?"

The logical part of her brain told her to stay far _far_ away from the gigantic fox creature, but her more impulsive side decided to throw all caution to the wind. Never mind the huge seal on the gate separating her from the fox. She slipped through the bars of the gate rather easily and embraced the large paw of the creature.

"So soft…" she murmured, letting the fur envelop her.

" **You!"**

The fox's face was twisted in anger and confusion. How could some insignificant little human approach him like this?! It was an insult! Yet… somehow exhilarating. No human had ever approached him so fearlessly in a very, _very_ long time.

However, he was still angry. So very angry. He _hated_ humans—especially those of Uchiha blood! He snapped at the girl and shook her off his paw with a snarl.

Emiko barely managed to land on her feet in a crouched position. Her body was finally adjusting and remembering what she had been taught. And to the fox's surprise, Emiko didn't get angry or upset… instead, she just looked up at him sheepishly—there was something strangely familiar about that expression.

"Sorry… I should have asked first. But you just looked so soft."

The fox stared long and hard at her. What a strange human…

"Is it okay if I…?" She chewed the inside of her mouth as she looked up at him hopefully.

His eyes narrowed slightly. Did he want to allow this little girl to have her way? Then again… if she was at ease, it was possible to find out more about her. Naruto had been talking his ear off about 'Emiko-san this' and 'Emiko-san that.' There was only so much he could find out when he was stuck behind these bars. This was a golden opportunity to find out info on his own since Naruto never took any of his hints.

He gave her an ever so slight nod.

Emiko's eyes sparkled as she embraced the fox's paw once more. She could feel his muscles ripple ever so slightly as she buried her face in his fur. It was so soft… she couldn't resist stroking anything that looked this fluffy and soft.

She stole a glance up at the fox. He seemed deep in thought… his ears twitching every once in a while. It gave her the courage to climb up onto his paw. Not an easy task, but she managed to pull herself up and laid down on his paw, stretching herself comfortably in his softness. "So… where exactly are we and who are you?"

The fox snorted. **"We are in Naruto's subconscious. As for who I am…"** A low growl rumbled in his throat. **"You do not need to know."**

Emiko frowned a little. "Naruto-kun's… subconscious? But how?" She held up her hand. "Wait on that one… how am I supposed to address you then? Can't you at least give me your name… Fox-san?" She made a face. "Calling you 'Fox-san' just doesn't seem right."

Another rumbling growl came from the fox. **"You may call me Kyūbi."**

She gave him a satisfied nod. "All right, Kyūbi-san. You said we were in Naruto-kun's subconscious? How is that even possible?" She sat up, looking around with a worried expression. "And where is he? Is he okay?"

She couldn't believe she had forgotten all about Naruto! With him out cold, anything could happen! Especially if she was in here… however that worked.

" **You are a strange human."**

She stuck out her tongue at the Kyūbi. "And you're a strange fox… but really, where is Naruto-kun?" Her brows were furrowed in worry. "He's okay, right?"

" **You seem to be quite fond of that brat."**

"He's not a brat!" She lightly thwacked the Kyūbi, not that he could really feel it. "Naruto-kun is a sweet kid."

The Kyūbi snorted. **"He's a brat."**

She rolled her eyes. The Kyūbi apparently didn't want to budge on his opinion on Naruto. "Okay, so _you_ think he's a brat. But where is he?"

The Kyūbi nodded towards the gate. **"On the other side. He's still out cold."**

Emiko felt herself relaxing some at those words. Knowing where Naruto was made her feel a lot better. "Is he okay?"

The Kyūbi snorted again. **"He's fine. Just unconscious."**

"Oh…" She wasn't sure if that was good or not. But if the Kyūbi said he was fine, she'd trust him.

But if he was unconscious… what would happen when he regained consciousness? Would she still be in his subconscious? Or no? She wasn't sure how this worked exactly.

" **I wouldn't think hard about it if I were you."**

She frowned a little but knew the fox was probably right. Things were already complicated enough on their own. No need to add anything more to her growing list...

"So, are you Naruto's imaginary friend then?"

The Kyūbi was shaking in laughter or anger—she couldn't really tell. His eyes narrowed dangerously down at her (probably anger…).

" **His imaginary** _ **friend**_ **?!"** The Kyūbi sounded extremely incredulous.

Emiko supposed an imaginary friend wouldn't want to admit being imaginary… but then again, the Kyūbi seemed more offended at being called 'friend' rather than 'imaginary.' How strange.

She glanced up to meet the Kyūbi's eyes. Another question was forming on her lips when her eyes locked on his.

" _Oh no…"_

Her eyes widened as her sharingan activated, but she couldn't pull away. She just stared up at that great eye and let the visions wash over her in waves. The history and life of the Kyūbi flashed before her eyes…

There was a man. He wore a strange robe of white with strange—yet strangely familiar?—black symbols along the collar of his robe. Surrounding him were nine large beasts. While they were much larger than the man, they seemed to be only babies—after all, judging by the Kyūbi's size, they _had_ to be babies? pups? kits? What would even be the right word…?

" _Even though you have been separated, you shall always be together. Until eventually that time shall come when you will become one… You each carry a name… And with a different shape than you had up to now, you will be shown a righteous path, different from the time you spent inside of me."**_

The Kyūbi seemed to have been very fond of this man. There was something different and special about him. He was wise and just… and powerful. And somehow, the man felt like someone she once knew?

Then, the trouble began. The humans saw the Kyūbi as a weapon… and a threat to their civilizations. They sought to use the beast and his chakra for their own desires. The powerful beast was one to be feared and subdued. He was a monster. A tool. A _weapon_ to be wielded.

Emiko clenched her eyes shut and held her head in her hands as pain attacked her. She could feel the chains latched onto him, pulling him— _forcing_ him down. The awful tearing feeling of a roar from deep within the Kyūbi's _soul_ attacked her throat.

It was awful… the way the Kyūbi had been treated, and the way he had treated the humans.

The Kyūbi has attacked so many people (and had eaten a couple too…). His wrath was untamable. Or was it?

She cracked open her eye to look back at the great fox's eye.

" _If you use your power, only hatred will come from it. Stay tranquil deep inside me."**_

Perhaps… the beast just needed to be _understood_ and treated as an equal not some mindless beast or tool.

"Oh Kurama-san…" She buried her face in his fur, unable to look him in the eye. She couldn't… not after she had seen it all and now knew his real name. And somehow, she knew he knew what she had just done with her sharingan.

A strange rumbling sound came from the Kyūbi's throat. **"What did you see?"**

Emiko swallowed nervously before whispering, "Everything… I'm so sorry, Kurama-san."

The Kyūbi was staring at her hard. The girl was almost more complex that his host… She was intriguing him more than he liked or wanted to admit. She felt so familiar. Her chakra was not like the other Uchiha. It was different. Like a long forgotten scent that he missed. But she was an _Uchiha_! He hated them! Oh how he _hated_ them!

His eyes narrowed. Yes, she was an Uchiha. Yet, yet, she was like _her_ now that he thought about it. He could really feel it. That faint touch of the Sage's chakra mixed with _hers_. Now how could that be? She was an Uchiha… but then again, _she_ was—no, he didn't want to think about her.

" **So you understand?"**

She nodded, still letting her face stay hidden in the protection of his fuzzy paw.

" **Are you afraid?"**

Emiko looked up at the Kyūbi with a puzzled expression. "Afraid?"

" **Are you afraid of me?"**

She furrowed her brow then slowly shook her head. "No… I'm not afraid of you exactly." She took a step back to get a better look at the Kyūbi. "I'm afraid… of your anger, Kurama-san. I…" She swallowed nervously. "I shouldn't have done that… it's your private memories. And I'm sorry. So sorry…" She buried herself in his fur once more.

The Kyūbi wasn't sure how to react… A human apologizing to him? That was something that he never recalled happening to him before. Oh right, she had apologized earlier, but this apology was different. This was a more personal… it was truly from the heart.

It was strange. He never had this sort of feeling before outside of _her_ and the Sage.

" **You… You are a very strange human."**

She peeked up at him through his fur. "You forgive me?"

Kurama made a rumbling sound deep from within his throat. There was no way he'd admit _that_ aloud. But judging by that smile on her face, she understood, even if he didn't say a word. So much like _her_ , how annoying…

"Thank you," she whispered, stroking his fur with one hand.

The Kyūbi gave no reply. Instead, he just let her stroke him as she desired. He told himself he was just letting the girl feel safe and that he'd use this to find a way to use it for his own benefit. He was _not_ going soft. She just reminded him of _her_.

And yet, he knew somehow that he wouldn't try to use Emiko. She was different—something familiar lingered in her chakra, kind of like Naruto's, he grudgingly admitted. The girl hadn't even tried to take control of him or use his chakra. Either she was sneakier than any Uchiha or human he had ever known… or she was really what she appeared to be. Now _that_ needed a lot of thought—and he had all the time in the world to do so. Perhaps, he could find out why she reminded him of _her_ in the first place…

"Kurama-san?"

His ears flattened slightly but he glanced down at the tiny human with a raised eyebrow and a low warning growl.

"I think Naruto-kun is waking up." Emiko nodded in the direction the Kyūbi had pointed out before.

The Kyūbi snorted softly. **"I believe your right.**

She hugged the Kyūbi, bearing her face once more in his fur. "I should go…"

Kurama nudged her with his snout. **"You know how to leave?"**

"Not really," she admitted. "But I'll figure it out somehow." She took a step back and looked up into his eyes. "Please take good care of Naruto-kun, Kurama-san. He really is a good kid."

* * *

"Oiiii! Emiko-san?"

The female Uchiha grunted softly and pried open her eyes. "Wh-wha…"

"Did you have a nice nap?" Naruto was hovering over her, looking pretty chipper.

She squinted at him. "Nap?"

"Yeah! We must have really trained hard. I woke up and found you were sleepin' too."

Emiko stared hard at the Uzumaki, wondering if he was really dense or just didn't realize she had knocked him out…

"You okay? You look kinda funny."

She blinked in surprise. "I'm fine?"

Naruto shrugged, placing his hands behind his head. "Do you want to keep training, or just call it a day?"

Emiko pursed her lips. "I think we can call it a day." She had a lot to think about… and sort out. "Take it easy, okay?"

Naruto looked a bit puzzled but nodded happily. "Don't worry. I promised Sasuke and Sakura that I'd meet up with them for dinner."

Emiko brightened at the mention of the rest of Team 7. "That's great. Hope you three have a nice evening."

"Oh! You can join us if you like," the blonde quickly added. "We don't mind at all."

He felt bad for not including her earlier! She wasn't exactly an 'official' member of Team, at least according to the paperwork—would Baa-chan ever get that fixed?! But the three genin considered her as part of the team. Kakashi probably did too, but the jōnin would never admit that out loud.

The Uchiha smiled and shook her head. "It's fine really. I have a few things I've been meaning to do."

"If you're sure…"

"I'm sure, don't worry about me. Just have fun with Sakura before the next exam," she teased with a knowing wink. She wasn't blind to the Uzumaki's attraction to the pink-haired kunoichi.

"E-Emiko-san!" Naruto protested, cheeks reddening. "Sa-Sasuke will be there too!"

"Mmmmhmmm."

"Emiko-saaaaaaan!"

* * *

_The next day…_

Emiko ignored the strange looks sent her way as she headed towards the training grounds. She had gotten used to the stares she received after her true heritage had been made publicly known. This was nothing compared to those initial looks and stares.

She was, however, a little disappointed to see that the others had already arrived (minus Kakashi, she hadn't seen him at all that morning come to think of it). The plan had been to start training early so that there wouldn't be much time to discuss her change of appearance… She knew she should have left the apartment earlier!

The previous night, she had decided to change her look. With her memories coming back little by little, she felt like she ought to try going back to how she had looked when she had lived in Konoha.

First step was cutting her hair. Her hair had been shorter as a child… and well, she really felt a haircut would be nice. Her current length was just too long and sometimes got in the way when she was training. Shorter was better. Though, these odd spikes were a little difficult to work with. The brush just refused to tame them!

Second step was to do some braids. The memory was still a little fuzzy, but she could vaguely remember how her mother had carefully wrapped them in strips of cloth. It had taken most of the morning, but she had gotten it done! Probably why she hadn't been able to leave as early as she would have liked…

"Emiko-san?!" Naruto gasped. "Is that you?"

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded, whacking him on the head. "You look nice, Emiko-san."

She smiled at her fellow kunoichi. "Thank you."

Naruto rubbed his head as he studied the female Uchiha more closely. "What happened to your hair?"

"I cut it," was her simple explanation.

"No kidding…" Sasuke muttered before adding, "But that's not what we're talking about. Your hair is," he hesitated, unsure of the least offensive word to use, "different."

Emiko lightly tugged one of her small bandage-wrapped braids that was sticking out from her bangs. "I wanted a new look."

"But why does it have to look like Sasuke-teme's hair?" Naruto grumbled.

Her eyebrow twitched. "I'll have you know my hair naturally did this." She gestured to the spiked-up hair. "If I had a straightener, I could do something about it. No offense…" She sent an apologetic look to Sasuke.

Not that she didn't like his hair, but it was whole different thing altogether when his hairstyle decided to manifest itself on her after she had cut it. Perhaps it was an Uchiha trait? She wasn't really sure.

"A what?"

"A straightener, baka!" Sakura scolded the blonde again. "It's a hair appliance that lets you straighten your hair."

"Why would you need something like that?"

"To… to look nice!" the pink-haired kunoichi stuttered, cheeks reddening in embarrassment. Why couldn't boys understand that there were just certain things girls needed?

"But how does making your hair straight make you look nice?" Naruto didn't understand.

"Well, sometimes a girl just wants—" Emiko was interrupted by the sound of soft * _poof!*_ behind her.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura greeted, nudging Naruto to get him to do the same.

"You're late… as usual," Sasuke huffed, crossing his arms as he faced their sensei.

"Maaa, I took a wrong turn and—" He stopped mid-sentence as his eye rested on the female Uchiha. "What happened to your hair, Emiko-chan?"

Emiko tossed her hair over her shoulder as she turned to face the jōnin with a somewhat annoyed look. "I cut it."

If the jōnin was blushing under his mask, no one knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the holidays and the new years, I've been a little behind with updates on FF. I don't know when I'll be able to post on a more consistent schedule, but I recently got a part-time job sooooo I might not have much time to work on writing/editing/updating chapters. 
> 
> So enjoy this long chapter, okay? ;) It's one of the longest chapters in this story! A bit of a deviation from the anime/manga, but not too much? Heheh, this is slightly AU, so please don't judge too harshly. ^^;
> 
> Also! As the story goes on, I will be adding more art related to the story. :3 Most of the art will be embedded in the story, but some comics/omakes will be posted only on DeviantArt. So please check it out!
> 
> **Remember, these will mean I'm quoting directly from the manga/anime.


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